Dragon Tales
by SunshineAndSecrets
Summary: Long ago the world was ruled by one Queen and all was peaceful until the vampires came, wreaking havoc and destroying Utopia. The Queen sent herself and her dragons to sleep for thousands of years, hoping to end the war and to wait until they were needed again. Now Bella has awoken, and she means to set things straight, with a little help from the Cullens. BxA, RxE, CxE, JxOC, ExO
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Here's a new Bellice story for you all! This one is... well, unique :D I hope you like it! I'll say this up front, I can't promise I'll be amazingly active. I've got maybe seven chapters of this written so far, but I write slow, so when those run out... don't be mad, please! Anyways, read on and enjoy! The beginning here is just prologue, really, the story starts farther down.**

_Once upon a time, the land was not Europe, nor France, Germany, Italy or any other name. There was no Asia, or Africa, and the New World was still foreign to most humans. Instead of this disruptive, divided place there was only one land. This land had no name, for why would you give something a name if you had nothing to compare it to? You couldn't say I live in this state, or this country, because they were all the same land. You could say I live in the north, in this village, or I live in the west, a mile outside of Drakford, take a right at the second mountain. But there were no countries or states. There was just The Land, because there was peace. There are no need for boundaries if you are at peace with your neighbors._

_ In this time, the witches were happy to sell medicine, the elves built the finest weapons, the trolls were content in the hills, and most importantly, the dragons were left to hunt and mine for gems and learn in peace. Humans grew crops, elves made swords, and dragons left everyone alone. People feared the dragons and kept their distance, and there was peace. To watch over this peace was the Queen. She was the queen because she herself was part dragon. There was no more powerful beast in the land than the Queen who had the abilities of a dragon, armies of wolves, and the magic of a witch. She was kind and benevolent and loved her subjects. Her reign was happy and joyous and the land prospered. _

_ Then the vampires came._

_ No one, not even the Queen, knew how they were created, or why one day they just came into existence. Some think it was a spell gone wrong, or that a demon had a child with a mortal and that they are the spawn of this pairing. Is it possible to know for sure? No. But regardless, villages began to knit together, separating one from another out of fear and mistrust. Fighting forces were built and suddenly there was not peace. Drakford was no longer a brother to Thimbold, and Geranin no longer would trade with Burk. No, the Queen had to negotiate treaties and designate farming land, while managing armies and fighting vampires herself. The elves and dwarfs and trolls were either wiped out or retreated far away from the humans and their quarrels. _

_ When the people of the land thought that nothing could get worse, something even more horrible happened. A large group of vampires killed a dragon hatchling. These vampires became nigh indestructible, and most importantly, invincible to fire. Only the Queen could slay them, and between the human wars and quarrels, there was chaos. Humans began to hunt and kill dragons because they were the source of the vampire's supreme power. Now the dragons were no longer left to be peaceful, and they laid waist to much of the land. Eventually, one day, her most faithful servant approached her._

_ "My liege... The world is in chaos. From the north to the south, east to west, there is famine and disease and sadness. These vampires must be stopped... at any cost. I think it is time."_

_ "But my precious dragons... What will I do, Mav? As long as there are vampires, there can not be dragons. As long as there are dragons, there can not be vampires."_

_ "You and your dragons must remain dormant until history has forgotten you. Until you are nothing but myth. You've had the prophecies; you will be needed in a different era, a long ways away from now. Sleep, and emerge when you are needed."_

_ A tear leaked down the Queen's cheek. "I will miss you dearly..."_

_ "As I will you." Mavrik, her most faithful warrior, padded up to her. His tail drooped and he buried his muzzle in her neck as she bent to embrace him. "It is time."_

_ "I... I want you to come with me. I will need a companion."_

_ The large black wolf blinked at her in surprise. "But, my liege... It would not be proper for one as lowly as myself-"_

_ "Nonsense. You are the king of wolves, and it would not be right for you to die fighting a useless battle. Your kind will need a king too, when the time comes."_

_ He sighed. "I would be honored to accompany you."_

_ "It's settled then." The Queen rose, her dark hair falling over her shoulder as she strode down a long hallway, her wolf staying close at her heals. Mavrik was a hulking creature, the largest wolf she herself had ever seen, which is why she had made him the captain of her guard. Long ago he had saved her life, but nearly died. She had healed him, dragons blood freely given, and now he would live for as long as she did. People in the halls bowed to them as they passed. The Queen strode out of the castle grounds and into the stable, swinging bareback onto her most faithful horse. Girl, Horse, and Wolf traveled for three days until they reached a large cliff that faced the sea. The Queen dismounted, bid her horse a gracious farewell, and together her and her companion climbed down the cliff until they found a cave._

_ Inside they sat as the Queen searched her memories. Her mother was a powerful witch. The knowledge of a witch is passed down through the generations. She knew every spell that her mother, grandmother, and all the witches in her lineage knew. Her father had been a dragon. At will she could take on his form, she had his strength and intellect. Now, she combined the two. She found the life fire in herself and in the wolf that lay beside her, and she wrapped it in a spell. Enchanted as they were, they would sleep without aging a day until they were needed. The Queen left it up to fate to decide when that would be. Until then she, and all of her dragons, slept. That day would be a turning point, as the world of the supernatural faded away, and the humans and all of their problems were given dominance that they did not deserve. _Don't get comfortable..._ the Dragon Queen thought. _I will return one day.

_The very last thing she heard before drifting off into her slumber was the voice of her long dead mother. '_You will not remember much, my dear. You will wake up incomplete. Only when you have found your missing pieces will you be at your strongest. When all of your powers finally return, they will be merely tools. Use them to defend that which is far closer to your heart.'

_They slept undisturbed for many, many centuries._

-Thousands of Years Later-

"Bella, wake up!" I jolted out of my dream with a gasp, then a groan. I stretched and rolled over, looking at the alarm clock. Two in the morning, just perfect.

"Jake, what the hell?" I whined, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I looked up to see the large boy standing in my doorway, his expression worried and eyes wide. Well, at least he hadn't woken me up for some kind of stupid reason.

"It's... Seth."

"Oh," I mumbled, sadness clouding my heart. "Not him too."

Jake grimaced and looked away. "Yeah, him too. He's having trouble changing back. Us guys were wondering if maybe... you and Mavrik..."

"Yeah, I'll be down in two minutes."

"Thanks, Bells."

Mavrik, who had been curled up in the corner looked at me from where his massive head rested on his massive paws. He hadn't moved from where he slept, but his eyes now peered at me, amber pools of the same sadness I felt. Poor kid. I swung my feet over the wide of my bed and began to get dressed. Some mortals might think that having a second form, being immortal, was a gift. Not everyone saw it that way, though. I knew most of the boys here didn't. I didn't know how I felt about it, but if me groaning and moaning along with them made them feel better, well who was I to deny them? Life wasn't the same after it, sure, but few of them took the time to wander if maybe it was a better life. Basketball shorts covered my legs down to my knees, and I wore a hoodie over my pajama shirt. I slipped on my chucks and was off, Mav at my heels. Jake waited anxiously for me in the woods edge, already in his second form. He bent a leg, lowering his shoulder for me, and I vaulted on.

"Lead the way," I said.

He took off into the woods, running very fast, but nearly silent. I could smell his musky woods smell, and I could smell the scent of the other wolves as we neared them. I hear the shouts of several human voices, namely Quil and Seth's sister Leah, along with the growls, whines, and whimpers of wolves. I heard Sam, the alpha, commanding Seth to calm down, but I could also feel Seth's fear and alarm, how his adrenaline was overriding the alpha's commands and just confusing him more. He just wanted to run home, to run away, just to get away from this place and this confusing thing he had become.

Jake skidded to a stop in the clearing, but I jumped down long before he came to a halt. Using some of his momentum, it only took me two steps to cross the small (recently flattened) clearing. In one swift motion I placed two of my hands on the sides of Seth's massive head, forcing him to look at me. "It's okay, pack brother." I murmured. He stopped thrashing and lunging, and just looked at me.

Mavrik slunk up behind me, and sat in front of him. Mav was half of Seth's size, a third of some of the bigger wolves' size, but he was alpha above all others and commanded immense respect. "Indeed, my son. We are not here to harm you. We are your brothers. Remember who you are, and come back to us."

I felt Seth relax under my hands. "That's right. Do you remember who you are, Seth Clearwater? Your mother Sue, and your sister Leah? Do you remember who I am?"

"Bella..." His wolves' voice was raspy, not used to speaking, just making sounds.

"That's rights. I know you don't understand what's going on now, but this body you're in is still your own. You should be proud that your genes are so strong as to carry such a handsome young wolf inside. Why don't I let you go, and we'll find a nice calm pool to gaze in, and you can have a good look for yourself."

"But... I can see me. It's just- I don't" He shook his head, trying to clear away the thoughts of the other boys.

I turned to them. "I can take it from here. Why don't you shift back?" They did as I said, though I knew many weren't happy about it. I turned back to Seth. "Is that better?"

He nodded, body now quivering with exhaustion.

"Come on then. I'll explain everything while we walk."

It took two hours of coaxing before I got Seth to shift back. He was so embarrassed to be naked in front of me that I ended up having to give him my basketball shorts, which made him blush, so I tied my hoodie around my waist. Modesty was something he would have to get over sooner or later, being in the pack. I returned him back to his house, where his mother and sister waited anxiously and with tear stained faces. Leah and Sue gave me quick and grateful hugs and I left them, knowing that this was no place for me. I was looking forward to tomorrow, when everything will have returned back to normal. Seth will be shaken, and things will be quiet, but we'll still be laughing and joking around, being goofs like normal.

As soon as the sun rose later that day, though, I knew I was wrong in my assumption. My gut feeling was reassured when I got up and looked over to the opposite side of the room, where Jake usually slept, and found his bed empty. Quietly I rose and walked over to the empty space to feel the sheets. Cold. I wasn't sure if Jake had returned to bed at all. I looked over to see Mavrik laying on the pile of blankets that served as his bed, looking up at me.

"Where's Jake?"

"Something important has happened," was all he would say.

I sighed and stood, throwing on a pair of baggy gray jeans, black and white DC sneakers, a dark blue tank top and a black and white striped zip-up hoodie. Yeah, yeah, notice a theme? Black and white is kind of my thing, because it compliments me. My skin is pale, and I mean _pale_. There there's my hair, which is black with streaks of white that occur naturally. Leah is always yelling at me that is further washes out my naturally creamy skin tone, but I've learned to ignore her over the years.

Downstairs Billy sat at the table, newspaper in hand, plate of food before him. He hadn't touched his breakfast and his eyes were still as if the paper in front of him didn't even exist. I stepped down on the last step before hitting the floor, one I normally skipped because it creaked, so he would look up. I said nothing, just met his eyes, and he sighed. "They're at Sam's."

"Thanks." Mavrik and I were out the doors and jogging across lawns and down the road in a second. I heard shouting long before I entered the house and was wincing as soon as I did.

"Well, what the fuck are we going to do about it? Sit around like a bunch of limp dick lap dogs?" Paul roared, resembling an angry bull. His chest heaved and his eyes flashed. He had been one of the first wolves to change, but still had one of the worst tempers. They hadn't noticed me yet. Seth sat near the door in a small folding chair, and was quivering. I sensed that his control was loose, so I came up behind him and laid a soothing hand on his shoulder. My movement brought attention to me and they calmed down.

"Please, don't stop on my behalf. I rather enjoy the feeling of my ear drums throbbing." I grinned a little bit, raising one eye brow.

Paul let his breath out in a harsh woosh, half sigh and half snarl. "And what the hell do you want?" He growled.

I sat on the armrest of a sofa next to Jared, reaching my hand into a bowl of fruit, popping a grape in my mouth like I hadn't a care in the world. "Well, I woke up to the strangest sound this morning. _Silence_. Since Jake wasn't snoring away, Billy didn't have the radio on, and Leah wasn't dragging me down to the beach I thought that at the _very least_ the apocalypse had begun. I feel justified in my concern." My tone was lax and easy, I shrugged it off, but my eyes held Paul's without blinking, daring him to use that tone with me again.

He huffed, but turned away.

I looked to Sam. "Since fireballs _aren't_ streaming from the sky, what _did_ happen that has your hackles up?"

Sam grimaced, his eyes darkening. "The Cullen's have returned."

"Hmm..." I said, eyes narrowing. "Well, that _is_ a problem. And that's why you've begun shifting again?"

"Duh!" Paul roared again, no longer able to contain it.

"And what is your plan of action?" I directed the question at Sam, clearly leaving the others out of the equation. Paul irked me.

Sam sighed. "That's what we were, uh, _discussing_ when you walked in."

"Some discussion. Well, it's obvious isn't it? Just arrange a meeting, reinstate the treaty, and be done with it."

"The problem some of us are having," Jacob spoke for the first time, directing his words at Paul with narrowed eyes, "Is that back in our grandfather's days, there were only a few of us that shifted. Not nearly as much as we have today. It's a larger disruption, and we don't know why. Some of us want to oust them before more of us shift, if any more will."

"And how do you feel?" I cocked my head, generally curious. Jake was a generally kindhearted individual, but he also had the mindset of a true alpha.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure. I'm no leech lover, not by a long shot. If it was up to me, they wouldn't be allowed to come within five hundred miles of our land. However, all we have a say in is _our land_. These particular leeches didn't harm anyone in the past, and while I hate them, it just doesn't seem right to oust them without a cause. If our forefathers could put up with it, why can't we?" He shrugged, finishing his small speech to the approving nods of most of his pack mates.

Sam nodded. "I agree with Jake. We haven't seen the signs of the change in any other kids on the Rez, and those bloodsuckers do help to keep other true vampires away."

Paul seethed. "I can't believe I'm listening to this bullshit right now!" He shouted, jumping to his feet, quivering.

I stood as well, feeling the situation was about to get out of hand. "Well believe me, you're more than welcome to leave."

He whirled on me. In his defense, I'll just assume that he forgot exactly he was talking to, where he was, enshrouded as he was in his anger. He raised his fist, ready to start a fight. He let it fly. In an instant my skin was covered with the start of shimmering white scales, harder than diamonds. My eyes blazed an icy blue color, my hair became snow white in color all around, and my nails elongated into short claws. I had to forcibly restrain the wings that wanted to spring from my back, (couldn't very well ruin _another_ shirt, now could I?) and caught his fist in my now steel-like vice grip. Mavrik seemed to swell, his fur puffed out, bringing him to the size of a small bear. He snarled at Paul, teeth flashing.

"Paul, calm down." My voice was... very different in this form. My half and half form. It was deep and rich, seductive though not by intent. It was also raspy like I smoked a pack a day. I felt sprinkles of magic wrap around my voice, making my intent practically an order. He was caught in the serpent's gaze, pale and terrified and entranced.

I released his fist and he stumbled backwards.

I pulled my second form back into the ether and sagged, flipping and errant strand of hair over my shoulder. "Well, that was pleasant."

Leah snickered at Paul's pale complexion and generally stunned visage. Most people on the other end of what we had affectionately dubbed my 'Serpent's Gaze' were. "Jeez Paul, want Jared to go fetch you some new boxers?"

Quil guffawed. "Looks like you need 'em, dude!"

"Stuff it." Paul grumbled.

Embry grinned. "Bro, you had it coming. You _did_ try and give Bella the right hook. You tried to hit _Bella_, what did you think was going to happen?" Now everyone was chuckling and throwing out their two cents. Paul just grumbled and stormed out.

"Quick Sam! Make a decision before he gets back!" Quil joked, causing the alpha to exhibit the rare and elusive 'grin.'

"We'll reinstate the treaty. Still though, I'm worried. I don't trust them, not at all, especially if they're causing so many wolves to shift now."

I found it peculiar that even though the Cullen's had just arrived, the wolves' bodies knew when to activate the gene, but let it slide.

"Maybe there are more of them now?" I threw out, eye brows raised.

Sam growled. "If they turned anyone, they will have broken our agreement and we will attack them."

"Hmm," was all I said, bringing up my thumb nail and chewing it thoughtfully. Bad habit, I know.

"So is that that?" Jake asked. "We cool?"

"That's that," Sam said. "I'll call them tomorrow to set up a meeting. Jake, Embry, Quil, Leah, and Jared, I want you there. I'll be human so I can talk with them, but I want you there to back me up."

"What if there's more than five, like Bella said?" Leah asked. "I don't really want to bring the young 'uns but we might need them."

"I'll come." I said, tilting my head to the side. "If you'll have me that is. I'm curious about these vegetarian vampires."

Sam looked on the edge, iffy about bringing someone who technically wasn't a pack member to a strictly pack meeting.

"Sam, she can breath fire for God's sake, let her come." Jake said, rolling his eyes.

"I guess so." The alpha grumbled. "Just let me do the talking, alright?"

I smiled sweetly, popping another grape into my mouth. "Don't I always?"

He scoffed and turned away, amidst chuckles from the others. Seth smirked and walked out of the room for just a second before returning with my shorts. "Hey Bella, here's your shorts. You forgot them last night, you can swing by for your panties later, I wouldn't feel right about pulling those out in public."

His crude sex joke resulted in a cuff around the ears and howling laughter from the other boys, some laughing at his words, others laughing at him as he slouched and rubbed his stinging skull.

"See if I ever help _you_ out again!" I grinned, happy to see things were already pseudo normal.

It seemed like barely any time passed between that hectic morning at Sam's house and the border meeting with the Cullens, but as these things are wont to do, I had barely blinked an eye before I stood at the border line, darkness surrounding us. Sam leaned against a broad tree, the wolves stood behind him in a rigid line, completely still except for when the wind ruffled their fur. The tension was giving the night an eery tune. I sighed and ran my hand through Mavrik's fur.

"They're sure taking their sweet time, huh?"

"Well, we are forty-five minutes early." He grumbled, slumping down.

Sam looked over at me, an amused glint in his eyes. "What did he say?"

"Um, that you are _very_ punctual." I grinned.

"Bella, I went to the dentist the other day and he told me my teeth were so rotten I'll need dentures by the time I'm thirty. I blame you and how you're always expecting us to swallow your sugarcoated bullshit." He joked, his deep voice hiding a chuckle.

"Eh, what can I say?" I shrugged as a new scent caught on the breeze. I perked up. "They're almost here."

Jacob and Leah looked at me quizzically for a moment before turning their muzzles experimentally to the wind. It was a moment before they recoiled, having finally smelt the scent as well.

"God, that is rank." Leah muttered.

"Really?" I asked, inhaling again. I figured I still had a moment before they arrived so I allowed my body to slip into my demiform, and inhaled again. My senses were sharper still in this form, but I still couldn't classify their scent as _bad_, per say. Just kind of mangled. Each of them had a very unique scent, and jumbled up as they were it was hard to decipher them, but every now and then I would get wind of something in particular, like lemon or lavender or patchouli, none of which I would classify as unpleasant. Just confusing. I brushed it off and reigned in my demiform just as they appeared through the trees.

**A/N: Predictions? Prophecies? Problems? ...Flames? Let me know what you think! :D Much love to my readers, as always!**

**Also, quick note, if any of you want to practice writing, enjoy RPing, like wolves, it would mean the world to me if you could drop by ****rubymoonlight dot proboards dot com slash index dot cgi** (Curse you FF for blocking urls...)  


**This is a really active, really friendly wolf RP I'm a member on, my username is Artemis! If any of you are interested or have any questions feel free to message me here on FF or on the above site! Thank ya much for your time (:**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Two updates in two days? Gasp! Alright, so I'm impatient. Enjoy anyways! This probably won't be what you're expecting, no mushy-gushy Bellice just yet! That'll be closer to chapter three or four when they finally start getting to know one another. Patience, my children! :D**

The wolves and Sam stepped forward, lining up against the border. The Cullens did the same. I was farther off to the right, not quite with them and not quite apart. The vampire who I assumed was the leader of the group stepped forward just and bit and nodded cordially. "Hello, I'm Carlisle Cullen. Am I to assume that you are Sam Uley?"

Sam nodded. "That's right. Our legends say that there were five of you before, now there are seven." I noticed some of the wolves stiffen. "Have you broken the treaty our forefathers set down?" His voice grew lower still, a defined growl beginning to form.

"No, of course not. Jasper and Alice," he gestured behind him, though my gaze didn't leave his eyes, as I was searching for anything that would indicate a lie, "were nomads that joined our family a few decades ago. They hold to the same ideals that we do."

Jake growled, "Twice as many young Quilleutes shifted than did last time. Why would just _two_ leeches make that much difference," but to them it just sounded like a growl.

So I was surprised when one of the males answered him. "We're all sorry that so many of your young have shifted."

"Look on the bright side," Leah said, "If they attack, we'll just be that much more capable to destroy them. Especially with Bella here now."

"I assure you, we have no intention to cross-" The same boy cut off mid stream and zeroed in on me sitting in the shadows. The breeze had continued to blow their scent towards us and still did, so how did he...? Vampires had gifts, that I knew. He knew what Jake and Leah said, and appeared to have learned about my presence without Leah actually speaking about me specifically. Was he able to hear her thoughts, and not just her words? Was he able to hear my thoughts too? "Who are you?" He asked me, with single minded focus.

I stood, sighing. "Hello, Cullen's. I'm a friend of the pack's, moved in after you all left the first time. My name is Isabella Swan, though I prefer Bella, and this is Mavrik. He's all wolf though, no shifter genes involved here, so please don't eat him. I'd be quite put out." We walked up to the treaty line with everyone else.

"Hello, Bella. It's nice to meet you." Carlisle said, head tilted to the side, obviously curious but not overstepping his bounds.

"The pleasure is mine. I've never met a vegetarian vampire coven before."

"I'm just happy to see you don't have the same prejudice of _some_." One of the vampires spoke, a new one. The female, tall, blond, and beautiful almost beyond words. He face was stony and cold and disapproving. A sneer seemed almost etched into her features, which was the only thing that marred them.

I tilted my head to the side, calmly considering her words before answering. "I hate vampires more than all of the wolves combined. If you drank human blood I would have incinerated you before you could get within a hundred miles of my home. Vampires destroyed... everything, a long time ago. Regular vampires. The only reason you're all still living is because you seem more civilized than most." I zeroed my gaze in on the blond. "Civilized, compassionate, good. Everything normal vampires are not. Don't prove me wrong." I turned to Sam. "Well, this was fun but I've had my excitement for the night. I doubt there will be any mauling, ripping, tearing, things of that sort anyways. See you all when you return home."

He nodded to me and I slipped off through the woods, feeling seven sharp gazes on my retreating back and hearing nothing but vast quantities of silence.

I had almost drifted to sleep when the front door slammed. I heard Jake's heavy footfalls clattering up the stairs and smiled, knowing I probably wouldn't be getting any sleep for at least another hour. He burst through the door, kicking off his shoes and collapsing onto the bed. "So what was that all about, Bells?" He asked, his excited whisper loud enough to be considered regular talking.

I sighed. I had been wondering the same thing. "I don't know, really. It just came to me." And it was true. To say that I remembered every detail of my entire life would be a lie. All I knew was that I used to be a Queen at one point. Then something happened... a war. I can't remember the specifics, but I just know that vampires were involved, and that I hate them to the bottom of my heart. I feel immense anger and sadness whenever I try to think of my past, what I can remember that is. I can hardly even conceive the time span of all this. I know that I was a Queen before anything we know of today. A different era completely, a peaceful time. Then there was the war, and a dark time... a very long, very dark time. I don't remember waking up really, just one day I'm with Mav and we're walking and... we wandered. Until we came here a long time ago, before any of the boys or Leah were born. No one pays us much attention unless we bring it upon ourselves. For the most part, it's like we don't even exist to the rest of the village.

"Well, was it true?"

"Yes. All of it. I would not have tolerated them if they were normal vampires. I hate them. _They_ are bloodsuckers. Vile, motherless, demon spawn, the lot of them... But," I grudgingly added, "The Cullen's are different. And fascinating." I rolled the next words I wanted to say around in my mouth before I actually said them. "I'm enrolling at Forks High tomorrow."

"What?" Jake exploded, sitting up. We froze for a few seconds, listening carefully to see if Billy had woken or not. His snores continued so Jake continued, albeit more quietly, "What? What on earth are you talking about Bells? _High school?_"

I shrugged. "It's just something I need to do Jake. I can't explain it."

He huffed. I had used that line plenty of times before, but he couldn't argue against it because it had never led us astray. It was the same feeling I had that told me when the diseased bear was going to come through the village, the same one that told me that a strange man on the beach was carrying a gun, and the same feeling that told me when Sam was going to shift for the first time. "Well, I don't like it."

"Never said you had to. Just for one year though, I'll go in as a senior."

He grumbled something unintelligible.

"You'll survive, I promise. Now, before you get on a roll, I'm going to bed. I have a big day ahead of me." I said, about as enthusiastic as Jake was, but it was just something I had to do.

At six in the morning I called the school and informed the still groggy secretary that I would like to enroll myself in school. I was an emancipated teenager who had been attending school on the Rez but wanted a change of pace. She was flustered and a bit confused, but woman registered me nonetheless and said I was all set to attend school that very day. I thanked her and went back upstairs to shower. I grabbed a messenger bag I had made myself, a few spare notebooks and a pen. I pulled on black skinny jeans, my favorite pair of chucks, and a graphic tee. I had a quick breakfast and was out the door. Jake waited for me on the porch.

"Hey Jake, what's up?" I asked. He had had morning patrol and must have just finished because he wore nothing but old cut off sweats.

"Thought I'd give you a ride to school, it being your first day and all." The school on the Rez started an hour later than public school so I knew he had the time, what I didn't know was his motive.

"Thanks for the offer, but what for?" I asked, wary. I wouldn't put it past him to duct tape my limbs and take me somewhere until I got some sense knocked back into my thick skull. Well, that's how he'd phrase it, anyways.

He grinned a little. "I just wanna scope out the hell hole you're subjecting yourself to so I can accurately describe it to the guys later."

"Oh, har har." I said, rolling my eyes. "Scope out the building, or maybe it's inhabitants? A few inhabitants in particular, maybe?"

He shrugged, unashamed. "Do you want a ride, or not? Were you planning on walking? And what's Mav gonna do while you're gone? I haven't seen you two more than five feet from one another for as long as I can remember!"

"He won't be far." I grinned. "And walking would get me there faster than any conversation with you. Are we gonna stand here chatting or are we gonna get a move on?"

He bowed and ushered me forward. "After you, your highness." He quipped. I had told Jake that I had been a Queen in my early life, but he took it about as seriously as I did.

The ride was spent in comfortable silence, for the most part. It wasn't a long drive, only about ten minutes. We talked some about how Seth was adjusting, and what we thought would come of the Cullen's return, though Jake refused to refer to them as anything other than 'leeches' and 'bloodsuckers.' Regardless, I felt inclined to thank him for sticking up for the vampires, though he just scoffed, muttering about 'the enemy you know.'

"Why are you so keen to get to know these leeches anyways?"

"It's not 'getting to know them,' it's observing them. And besides, you and Sam should be thrilled, you've never had an inside view like this before. Think of it as spying if it makes you feel any better."

He mulled over my words. "Hmm. Well, when you put it that way..."

"And I just want to make this perfectly clear: I don't hate the Cullen's. I hate vampires that kill and slaughter and maraud. I'm _skeptical_, sure, but I'm giving them the chance to prove to me that vampires don't have to be evil."

Jake just scoffed. "Yeah well, we're here. Now hurry up and get out of my truck before your optimism gives me a complex or something."

"Grouchy teenage werewolf." I grumbled, swinging open the door. He just laughed. "I'll walk home, alright? See you around four, four thirty."

"Cool beans. And Bells, if they give you any trouble, call me." He winked and drove off.

"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" I called after him, knowing he'd hear me. I turned back to see some of the students giving me curious looks. Eh, it wasn't my job to bother with _them_.

Remembering my phone call earlier this morning, I did as the woman had instructed me and walked through the doors of Building One in search of the administrative office. Inside the doors a warm breeze shooed away a slight chill and I sighed, trying not to breathe in too deeply, less the smell of teenage funk actually lodge in my nose. I turned around and looked back through the doors, into the wood line just across the street. I could see Mavrik's eyes staring back at me from the shadows and I smiled a bit.

The woman at the front office was short, plump, and had a terrible red dye job. However, she was as friendly as could be. "Hello, dear! You must be our newest student! So many in just a few days, everyone is just buzzing with excitement. What's your name, dear?"

"Isabella Swan, ma'am." I said with a small smile.

"Ah, the impromptu transfer, yes. Well, here are your things." She handed me my schedule, a planner, a map of the grounds, and a slip of paper to be signed by my teachers.

"Thank you."

"Have a lovely day dear, and if you have any questions feel free to ask the first person you see. All the staff and students here will be more than happy to help you out."

I scoffed, internally of course. "I'm sure they will be. Thanks for your help." I walked a ways away from the desk and sat down on a small bench to look over my schedule. I had to remember to forge some transfer papers from the La Push school, maybe the Council could help me with that. For now though, they took my word on it that I only needed an English credit to graduate, and the rest of my classes would just be filler. Smiling down at my schedule, I liked what I had. First period was English, a creative writing class. After that I had a Medieval Europe history class, followed by studio art, which was followed by lunch. After lunch I had an Earth Science class, a Psychology class, finally gym. I groaned a little at the last one, not that I was out of shape or anything, but it would be boring to play sports with a bunch of humans. Unfortunately, this school required all students to take a gym class every year.

I looked at the room number for my first class, then checked my map, then checked my schedule again. I knew where to go, but as soon as I was about to stand up a voice sounded in my ear. "Hi there!"

I jumped a little bit, I'll admit. Frazzled, I replied, "Um, hello?"

"Hey." I looked up into a boyish face with dark hair, dark eyes, and freckles. He looked to be a mixture of American and Asian parentage. "My name is Eric Yorkie." He extended a hand which I cautiously shook. "I'm one of the guides for the new students."

"I'm Isabella Swan, though I prefer Bella. Nice to meet you Eric and thanks for your offer, but my first class is in Building Two, just across the way. I'm sure I can find it-"

"No can do, new girl!" He beamed. "See, my official job is to show you around, but my _un_official job is much more important. It involves telling you about your teachers, how your homework load will be, who the school bitches are. I don't even get paid, either! But don't thank me, I'm just a helpful soul." He held up two fingers. "Boy Scouts honor."

I laughed. "Isn't it supposed to be three fingers?"

He shrugged. "Dunno, I was never a boy scout."

I laughed a little, enjoying his humor. What would it hurt to make a few human friends? "Well then, Not-A-Boy-Scout-Eric, I accept your offer. So, what should I expect from Mr..." I looked at my schedule once again, "Walsh?"

Eric's eyes brightened. "Well..."

As it turned out, Eric knew a surprising amount the school and all it's denizens. He told me that Mr. Walsh was light on homework, but his big assignments were 'killers.' I'd have a girl in my class named Jessica Stanley, who he personally 'hung out with' but he warned me to try an avoid conversation unless I wanted my ear gossiped off. According to him, the only teacher I really needed to watch out for was Mrs. Cline, who taught my psychology class, but that was only if I was late. Other than that, he bid me adieu and we went our separate ways at the door. Inside the class was just half full, and while I could hear them chattering from outside the door, as soon as I walked it the talking stopped for just a few seconds, then resumed in much 'quieter' whispers, all of which involved me. I ignored them though and walked up to the teachers desk. The man was tall and fit, with salt and pepper hair and a light goatee. He looked at me in a thoughtful way while I approached him.

"Well, well, well. What's this now?" His voice was rich and kind.

"Hello, sir. My name is Bella Swan, I'm a new transfer student." I handed him the slip to sign.

"Right, right. I had an email sent to me just this morning about you. All your files, records, dirty little secrets." I laughed because I knew that wasn't true, that he was just joking.

"All good things I hope."

"Naturally." He smiled up at me, handing me my paper back. "Why don't you take a seat there by Miss Webber. Angela, could you raise your hand so Bella can see you?"

I looked to the class and saw a friendly girl with classes and curly brown hair beckon me over. I smiled and walked over, taking the seat next to her, behind two girls and next to a boy with blond hair. Eric had warned me about the three others, but Angela he said was the nicest girl at the school. I knew one was Jessica, but the names of the other girl and boy escaped me. I wasn't paying that much attention to Eric, okay? Sue me.

"Hello, Bella!" Angela said with a smile but her voice held a tint of shyness.

"Hello. Nice to meet you." I nodded towards her in greeting.

"Likewise. So you're a transfer student? Where from?"

"I used to go to school down on the Rez, but I wanted to mix things up so I came here." I shrugged with an easy smile.

"Seriously, you lived on the Rez?" The girl with brown-blond hair in front of me turned around. "Like, we go there all the time. How come we've never seen you there?"

"Jessica, manners." Angela scolded. "At least introduce yourself first."

"Oh, right, totally. I'm Jessica Stanley and this-"

"Lauren Mallory." The other girl caught on quick and added her two cents, nose so high in the air I was worried it might get caught in the AC vent.

"The name's Mike Newton," the boy on the other side of me swept up to my desk in what I'm sure he thought was a suave manner. His face still held some baby fat, his hair was pale blond and poorly gelled.

"Nice to meet you all. And to answer your question, Jessica, I don't know why. I never really went to the townies' beach parties." I smirked and Jessica shrugged like she didn't care, and Lauren (I saw from the corner of my eye) sneered like she couldn't believe _anyone_ wouldn't want to go to a party if _she_ was there.

_Eric was soo right about these two..._ I thought.

"So, are you here with the Cullen's or something?" Jessica asked, excitement evident in her voice.

"The Cullen's?" I asked, playing dumb.

"We never get any new kids around here, right? Well, yesterday these dope ass cars roll into the lot and out steps some of the finest bitches any of us have ever seen." Mike said, banging his hand on the top of his desk for emphasis.

"Yeah, and even more of the finest pieces of man ass on the planet." Lauren snorted from in front of me, not bothering to look up.

"Anyways," Mike continued, "You look like them, except you don't have their weird eyes. A pretty girl like yourself, I figured maybe you were related."

I ignored the compliment and neglected to point out that they had certainly _not_ come from the Rez, we started school on different days, I had a different surname, wasn't quite as pale as they were, and just said, "Nope."

"Oh," Mike said, face falling like he had expected me to flirt back.

_No dice, kid._

Mr. Walsh, to my delight, decided then was a good time to begin the lesson. I sat and listened for a good ten minutes before I felt something nudge my elbow. I looked down to see that Angela had slid me a piece of paper. On it she had written,

_Sorry about them. They're, uh, from a _different crowd_ if you know what I mean. _

I smiled and grabbed a pen from my bag, replying, _It's fine. It's weird being around people like them though, there really aren't many like them at school on the Rez._

_ Well, happy that we could culture you :P Anyways, I'm not usually one to gossip but so many new kids at once, everyone's curious. What's your story?_

_ Not much to tell. I'm emancipated from my parents, nothing sketchy, just my dad isn't with us and my mom had a new husband she wanted to get to know so I moved out to live with a family friend down on the Rez a few years back. I wanted to broaden my horizons so I came here._

_ Not very broad, but I'm sure you'll figure that out soon enough._

_ Broad-er, at any rate. So what's there to do in town? And what's up with these Cullen's? Are they really as great as the girls said?_

_ Well, they are _really_ attractive, but I don't think they're available. They're all adopted so there's no blood relation except for two, and all of them except for one are together, like dating. A lot of the kids here are freaking out about it, but to me it's whatever. There's two boys, Edward and Jasper, that are together, and a girl named Rosalie and a boy named Emmett that are together, then a girl named __Alice who's single._

_ Wow, in family relationships _and_ homosexuality? That's a doozy. Are people giving them a hard time?_

_ Honestly, I don't think too many people have really noticed yet. They keep it under wraps, but I'm sure if they ever come out everyone will be all riled up, this being such a small town. It's stupid really. Another thing, they're really close together. They don't talk to anyone other than their family members._

Good, I thought. Sam will be pleased to hear that. _Well, to each their own, I guess. _

At that point in the lesson Mr. Walsh handed out a worksheet we had to do so Angela and I put our notes away and got down to work, which lasted us until the end of the period. Angela smiled and bid me goodbye at the bell and left me grinning, thinking that maybe I had made yet another friend.

My next class was Medieval European History in building five. It was also my first class with a Cullen. I could smell the strong fragrance of vampire in the building and guessed that at least one of his siblings were also nearby, maybe two. _Keep on your toes, girl,_ I thought to myself. I walked into the class with a stoic and aloof expression, eyes zeroing in immediately on the vampire sitting towards the back of the room and flitting away just as quickly. However, in that instant I knew exactly what I was up against. I had barely glanced at more than two of the vampires that night with the wolves, as focused as I was on Carlisle, so I spent this time examining this one. He was huge, linebacker huge, with bulging muscles and curly black hair. His eyes were a light topaz, letting me know he had hunted recently. I could smell no fear or anger or anxiety in his scent, nor was he fidgeting or grimacing. He was comfortable, which was good.

Now I was at the teachers desk and had to pull myself from by observations. The teacher, a man who was a bit older than Mr. Walsh, greeted me with a reserved smile. "Ah, hello there. Who would you be?"

"Isabella Swan, sir, but I prefer Bella. I'm a new student." I handed him the paper to sign.

"Nice to meet you Bella, I'm Mr. Parre," he said with a slight frown, though I got the feeling that it was more about the unusual situation than anything I had done. "This is quite short notice. Well, no matter. If you'd please take a seat... ah, behind Mr. Cullen? Would you raise your hand so Miss Swan can see you?"

_Figures,_ I thought with bland amusement. The large vampire looked up and caught my eye, slowly raising his hand. The scamp winked at me. _Winked_, at me. I nodded to the teacher and walked to the back of the class room.

**A/N: Oh Emmett. I love you. You might be the next chapter tomorrow as well, mostly because Bella has a class with Alice next and I love her, AND you get some Bella-Emmett banter which is always a good thing. **

**Also, 14 so far for one chapter? *Fistpumps* 10 points and a cookie to all of you! To answer some questions real quick, Fenrir and Guerrilla, yours were both really similar. How much does Bella remember? Well, bits and pieces but nothing incredibly substantial... yet (: I suppose you'll just have to read and find out!**

**Feel free to PM me with questions, suggestions, any of that! I don't bite!**

**Alright, stay tuned until next time! :D I love you all! (ESPECIALLY THOSE OF YOU WHO REVIEW!3)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Alright, you lucky dogs! Here's the third, as promised! However, I'm sad to say, from now on updates will probably be closer to once a week. I have other stories too ya know, and I need time to write them all! Anyways, enjoy this chapter and all it's banter filled goodness!**

"Now class, please turn your textbook to page four-ninety-two while and read the section while I write the outline on the board, and keep it quiet." Mr. Parre said, turning his back to us.

Immediately the class dissolved into whispers, turning to a partner or talking to a friend a few isles over. I was surprised when Emmett turned around to face me, grinning like a fool. "You're the wolf girl!" He said proudly, like he was some kind of detective.

"Very observant of you," I said with a dry grin, analyzing him. Why was he being so friendly to me? I was under the impression that the Cullens hated the Quilleutes and anything to do with them, which would roughly include me because I was so close with the pack. "But I prefer Bella."

"I'm Emmett Cullen," he said, extending a hand for me to shake.

"It's nice to formally meet you, Emmett." I said, raising my eyebrows. I noticed some, if not most, of the class had turned their attention to us and was talking about our exchange.

"Likewise! So I hear you're a transfer student. Maybe if we're lucky you'll take some of the spotlight off of us other poor newbies." He smiled again, but more wolfishly this time. "Why the change, if you don't mind my asking."

I shrugged, watching him with a knowing glint in my eye. "Yeah, maybe if you're lucky. I'd keep to the background if I were you. And to answer your question, just wanted a change of pace. I wanted to branch out, get new opportunities, meet new people..." I trailed off.

"Have you always lived on the reservation?" He asked. _So_, I thought, _the game begins_.

"No, I was born overseas but eventually moved to the reservation to live with family friends."

"Really? That's interesting. How long ago was it that you moved here?"

He was good at this, trying to get answers for his family I'm sure. I shrugged. "A while. How about you? You and your family are the buzz of the school right now, from what I've picked up."

It was his turn to shrug. "People will talk about anything nowadays." He held up a hand and tacked off facts as he listed them, making a show of trying to remember them all. "We're all adopted but Rosalie and Jasper are twins, Carlisle moved to this small town because he likes helping out small hospitals, we came from Maine- No, Alaska this time! We came from Denali, Alaska where we were staying with extended family." He grinned at me as I tried to hold back laughter.

"That's very believable, I'll hand it to you."

"We have lots of practice."

"How are you settling into town?"

"Everyone has been very friendly." He rolled his eyes. "Some a little _too_ friendly." He muttered under his breath.

Now _that_ I was really laughing at. "I can imagine. Let me guess, Jessica Stanley and Lauren... oh, what was her last name. Mallard?"

Emmett tapped his nose, grinning. "Mallory, and yeah, two points to you." His face scrunched up in blatant dislike.

"Sucks to suck, bud." I laughed at him.

"What about you, how many of these meat sacks have asked you out so far?" He asked like he was commenting on the weather.

Startled, I looked at him like he had grown a second head. "None of them, obviously."

He looked at me, and if I had to guess I'd say he was just as confused as I was. "What do you mean by 'obviously'? I don't understand, does it have something to do with, uh, _where you came from_?" He said the last part with air quotes, I guess meaning 'what I was,' but didn't help me at all.

"No, it's just... Guys don't ask me out. Never have, and especially not now with a school full of attractive _Alaskans_," I said, air quoting 'Alaskans.'

"Hmm." He said, obviously not satisfied, but shrugged it off. "Hey, what are you, anyways?"

I gasped, acting as if I were taken aback, a hand fluttering to my breast bone. "You overstep your bounds, sir! To be so forward with a lady, have you no manners? What day and age do we live in where a man may just presume to ask a woman her species!" I scoffed.

He laughed a booming laugh that made many nearby students flinch away from him and the class fall silent for a whole three seconds, not that either of us took any notice. "I like you, Bella! We're gonna be buds, I can tell. Fine, keep your secrets, but we'll find about eventually."

"$100 says I'll have to tell you before any of you come anywhere close."

Emmett grinned like a kid in a candy shop. "Will you honestly answer yes or no questions?"

I weighed his terms for a second before nodding and extending my hand. "You've got yourself a bet, sparkles." I grinned wolfishly as Emmett boomed out another laugh.

Emmett's raucous noise-making brought Mr. Parre's attention back down upon us and the lesson began. Emmett's first question, asked at a volume and speed beyond a human's perception, was "Can you hear me?"

"Duh," set off a rapid fire game of 20 Questions, interlaced with raunchy jokes and life stories I never expected to share with anyone, least of all a vampire.

Emmett walked me to studio art after the class ended, telling me all about his family, little things I'm sure none of them wanted me to know. I could smell some of them nearby, but none came to interrupt us. "And Alice _hates_ anyone making jokes about her height, so if you ever need ammunition that's always my weapon of choice, but her lack of height she makes up with in speed so watch your back."

"I'll keep that in mind," I laughed.

"Good, because you have class with her next!" He said with a broad grin. "I've got Architecture Design next so I'm in the same building."

"Who else will be in my classes? Anyone I should keep an eye out for?" I handed him my schedule and he studied it for just a second.

"You've got my brother Edward in Science, Rosalie and Jasper in Psychology, and Rosalie again with Alice in Gym again. Good deal!"

"What?" I said, with mock horror. "You mean I only get _one_ period away from you people! Ugh!"

He snickered, ruffling my hair. "I like you, Bella. You've got spunk, and you'll learn to put up with us."

"Sounds like it," a new voice said, entering our conversation. The sound of it sent shivers down my spine which I'm sure Emmett must have felt, though he didn't comment. It was smooth and reminded me of soft fabrics and running water. Listening to it made me feel like I had stuck a fork in an electrical socket, and that was before I saw who owned it.

_Alice_... Her name ran through my mind like a dandelion puff on a breeze, floating through at a luxurious pace as I recognized her from Emmett's descriptions. She was short, somewhere between 4' 11'' and 5' even without shoes but it was hard to tell for sure in her four inch heels. He skin was as pale as Emmett's but a slightly creamy tone led me to believe she had been olive-skinned in her human years. Her hair was arranged around her head like some kind of dark halo, spiking out with meticulous precision. She wore a fine white button up blouse under a black vest, buttoned up to just below her bosom, and dark denim skinny jeans that hugged her form. Her eyes blazed with more fire than Emmett's and wholly captivated me.

She spoke again, to Emmett, but she held my eyes with an interested intensity. "Who's your friend, Emmett?"

"Alice, this is my new best friend Bella, Bella, this is my vertically challenged sister Alice."

He eyebrows drew together for a fraction of a second then raised, challenging Emmett to say one more damn thing about her height. Meek as a puppy, he scurried back a few paces. "I'll, uh, catch you later Bella! Remember what I told you!"

I laughed and waved him off. "I will!" I turned back to Alice and it took a minute for my mind to get back in gear. "Oh! Uh, sorry." I extended a hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Alice."

"It's very nice to meet you too, Bella." She smiled brightly at me, bouncing with energy. She grasped my hand softly, but the same electricity I had first felt at hearing her voice seemed to manifest in our contact, traveling up my arm and once again frying my brain. She must have felt it too because she blinked a few rapid blinks. It wasn't until a noisy cough broke us apart a few seconds later that our eye contact broke.

"Are you just gonna, like, stand there? You may be new, but if you make me late, you're gonna regret it." Lauren Mallory stood behind us, looking at her nails once again, but a sneer on her lips relayed her pissed nature.

I scoffed. "Sorry Princess." I stepped back and bowed, gesturing her forward. "After you."

"Pfft," was all she said and she brushed past us.

"She's a bitch." Alice said like it was no big deal, watching her recede into the classroom.

"I should have tripped her, maybe she'd have broken one of her precious nails." I glared at the space she had last been standing in before the wall covered her from my view. I wasn't vain or proud or egotistical or any of that, but if that little meat sack thought she was so much better than a vampire and a _Queen_, well, 'princess' had another thing coming.

Alice's laughter broke me from my dark thoughts, completely ensnaring me. It was like wind chimes, and created images of sunlight in my mind. "Don't let Emmett hear you talking like that, you'll put ideas in his head."

I grinned down at her (four inch heels or not, I was still taller by a good six inches.) "We should probably grab seats before the bell rings."

"Good idea." She surprised me by linking her arm through mine and leading me up to the teachers desk. "Good morning Mrs. Grace! This is the new transfer student I'm sure you've heard about, Bella Swan. She'll be joining us in class for the rest of the year!"

Alice's charm completely dazzled the woman, and I felt bad for her, just a little bit. The teacher blinked at her, trying to understand just what exactly was going on. "What? Oh, hello Bella. Um, isn't that great! Yes, just fine. Well thank you for the introduction Alice." She signed my slip and sent us to sit wherever we liked.

Looking around the room, only one table had two seats open and it was unfortunately the same one Lauren inhabited. I looked at Alice questioningly and she just shrugged, leading us over and sitting down. Lauren looked up at us with a 'wow, _really_?' look and went right back down to reading some magazine she had pulled from an oversize pleather pink purse. I rolled my eyes at Alice and turned to her.

"So you guys are new students too, huh?"

"That's right, we moved in just the day before yesterday. I hear you're from the Native American Reservation?" She asked politely.

"Not originally," I said, noticing Lauren's eyes stop scanning her magazine and her head tilt slightly towards us. Listening for anything gossip worthy, I'm sure. "I was born overseas in England but moved to La Push when I was younger to live with family friends. It's taken me _forever_ to learn how to speak without an accent," I laughed, rolling my eyes.

Alice gasped and laughed a little. "You have an accent? Why _wouldn't _you speak in it?" She asked, apparently flabbergasted.

I sighed, dropping it for just a moment and said, "Because I'm weird enough with out it, aren't I? Jolly-o, gov'na, the Queen an' all that."

Alice squealed, clapping her hands and bouncing a little bit. "That's cool, not to mention completely adorable! Accents are the best, I wish I had one." She scowled for a bit, then apparently got her train of thought back and said, "I won't pry and ask why though. So-"

Lauren finally decided our conversation was worth her time, and was apparently very willing to pry. "Why did you leave your parents in _Europe_ to come live in _Washington_. Are you dense, why on earth would you do that?"

"No, I'm not _dense_, and it's none of your business." I said, American voice back in play. After all, you were never supposed to reward a disrespectful child, it taught them nothing but bad manners.

Lauren looked so offended I almost thought she was going to jump across the table and attack me. Her stunned silence was appreciated, though. Alice used this time to continued her earlier question. "So Bella, what kinds of things do you do for fun?"

I grinned. "Reading and drawing, the usual, but I also love hanging out with the guys down at La Push. Also one of my good friends, her name's Leah Clearwater, we'll go surfing from time to time when the water's warm enough. We spend tons of time in the woods, hiking, playing games, having bonfires. There's always something to do, I barely ever come into town."

"Sounds like it," she raised her eyebrows up, interested. "Unfortunately, we've only been here two days and my brothers have already managed to get into a fight with some of the boys down there. I doubt we'll be going to those particular beaches any time soon."

"Oh, that's too bad, it's fun. Well, I'll talk to them and maybe once you've been here a while we can try and work it out." I looked her straight in the eye, hoping she understood my meaning. So far, neither Emmett nor Alice had been anything but polite, controlled, and even friendly.

"I hope so," Alice beamed. "I love sun bathing, it would help if we had a beach to go to." She winked at me, and between that and the mental image of Alice in a swim suit, a blush was slowly creeping into my cheeks. I struggled for words, positive that she noticed due to the small but growing smile on her face, but thank whatever gods may be, Mrs. Grace pulled the class in to begin the lesson.

"Alright everyone! Please get out your sketch books, we're gonna do some figure sketches today with live models!"

I gulped and raised my hand. "Yes, Miss Swan?"

"Would you by any chance have a sketch book I could purchase from you? I don't have one."

"Neither do I." Alice said, sounding crestfallen.

To my great disturbance, Mrs. Grace smiled like the Cheshire cat. "Of course I have sketch books for you, I'm an art teacher! And you don't need to pay me with money, rather participation." She pulled two sketch books seemingly from out of nowhere and twirled over, setting them before us. "Both of you will be modeling for us today!"

I sank into my seat as several people in the class let out whistles and cat calls. One boy even had the gall to ask, "_Nude_ modeling?" but neither I nor Mrs. Grace could pinpoint the source.

"_No_, whoever that was. Now one of you, get your butt up there! In fifteen minutes you'll switch. Feel free to change poses as you get tired."

I sighed and looked at Alice, pleadingly. She grinned and patted my arm sympathetically. "There, there Bella. I'll save you from the big, bad, socially awkward situation. You know, for now." She grinned cheekily and stood, moving to the front of the room. I sighed in relief and grabbed my pen from my bag and flipped my sketch book open to the first page. Looking back up to the front of the room my breath caught in my throat as my eyes settled on Alice and her pose.

She was standing like a model would at the end of a run way. Legs spread apart in a stark and bold stance, hip jutting out, one hand on that hip, the other arm straight and slightly extended. She had turned herself so that her face was angled perfectly towards me, her face caught in sultry contrast, tilted slightly up and away, but down just enough so that she could still look at me from the corner of her eye. I gulped. _Good gods, what the hell is wrong with me? Am I getting sick?_ I turned to the sketch book and began roughing out her basic form. The thing was, I don't get sick. _Ever_. I had just finished that pose when she moved to a different one, this time wrapping a hand up into her hair, crossing an arm over her torso, crossing her legs almost in a mid-step stance. She had a smile on her face like she was loving every minute of the attention.

I sketched her more quickly this time, more familiar now with her curves and the way her body aligned. I had more time now to sketch a close up of her face, of her hands and hair, to add detail to her clothes. I sketch the look in her eyes, to catch the light that shone behind them. Looking at my finished paper, my breath was taken away with the reality of it.

All too soon, Mrs. Grace spoke up. "Alright, thank you very much Alice, that was wonderful! Now, Bella? Up to the front!"

"It's not so bad." Alice whispered to me as I passed her.

"Kill me now," was my response. I stood there, everyone looking at me, all eyes scanning my form.

_What the hell do I do?_ I was freaking out, honestly. I didn't like attention. At all. How on earth could I have ever been a queen if I couldn't even stand in front of a small group of teenagers?

"Put your hands in your pockets, slouch a little. Just do something natural." Alice whispered, too fast and low for the humans to hear. I looked at her, mouth twitching in a fraction of a smile.

I did as she said, shoving my hands into my pockets and just kind of... chilling. I watched the classroom get to work, and especially Alice. She looked at me with an eager intensity I was beginning to understand was just the way she interacted with the world, like everything she encountered was a gift wrapped just for her, and she was always eager to unwrap it. I tried not to think of her eyes, or anyone else's, scanning my body. I ignored them for the most part.

"New pose. Try crossing your arms and leaning to one side or another."

I looked at Alice, trying to convey my gratitude through a gaze and did as she suggested. She grinned at me and bent her head back to her work. I kept my head angled towards her in the right on the classroom, tilting my head down a bit so my hair would mask me from the majority of my classmates. You know, hopefully. Towards the end of my second pose I noticed Alice had set her pencil down and was leaning over my sketchbook, scanning the drawings I had done of her. Mortified, I berated myself for leaving the book open. What if I had gotten something wrong, some offensive thing, what if I had drawn her clothes wrong or made her look fat or something? Would she be mad? Finally after an eternity my fifteen minutes were up and I fled back to my seat, blushing up a storm, and snatched my book up into my arms.

"I'm-" I was about to stutter out an apology when Alice grinned at me, yet again catching the words in my throat.

"Your sketches are _amazing_ Bella! Where did you learn to draw like that? You got me exactly right and I've been drawing for a _long_ time." She smiled at the inside humor.

"I, uh, I don't really... um?" I said, blinking rapidly, completely baffled. "I'm sure yours are much better." I finally said, my throat so dry the words were almost a whisper.

"Not really, they're about the same." She said, flipping her book around to show me, and I gasped. She had drawn me in a way that made me look well balanced, and thoughtful, and curvy, and _pretty_. The sketches were perfect as far as how she had proportionately placed me out, but the figure in the picture didn't really look like... _me_.

"Alice, you were supposed to sketch _me._" I laughed a little bit.

Her brows drew together in confusion. "But... I did. Did I do something wrong?" She pulled her book back and I watched as her eyes flashed over the page.

I laughed. "You drew some kind of super model, not little old me." I grinned and understanding flashed in her features, followed by annoyance.

"No, like I said, I drew _you_." The bell rang then, signaling the end of class. Alice stood and smiled sweetly. "Do you have anywhere to sit at lunch, Bella?"

I shook my head, shrugging.

"I'll ask my family and see if we can't make room for one more." She grinned widely. "As I understand it, you and Emmett have a bet going on around a game of 20 Questions, and I'm sure the rest of us will want a crack at it too."

I grinned. "Sounds like a good time." I didn't bother to wonder about the game, seeing as I was with Emmett the whole time we were playing and he didn't mention it when she was with us. Oh well, maybe she overheard somehow.

"See you in the caf, Bella." She said, throwing back at me over her shoulder, her voice light and airy, caressing my name in a way that I wasn't the only one to stop in my tracks and watch her leave.

_What in the _hell_ is happening to me... Get a hold of yourself, Swan._ I shook my head and followed her tracks back to building one. I looked out for Mav, but I couldn't see him and instinct told me he was off a ways, looking for lunch. My nose led me my own food line, and I waited, holding a tray. Nothing smelled particularly appetizing, but I was damn hungry after a day like this one. I grabbed an apple and a slice of pizza, along with an orange Gatorade. I payed with a five dollar bill and exited the line into the big open room filled with babbling teenagers. As soon as I walked out Emmett stood up from a table in the far right corner and waved me over eagerly. I laughed and walked over.

Another boy, tall and blond but less muscled than Emmett sat there smiling politely. From what Emmett and Alice had told me, this must be Jasper. "Hello Bella, long time no see!" Emmett said like we were long lost identical twins.

I laughed. "Hey Emmett, have you grown since we last met? It looks like you've grown."

"Me? What about you! Last time I saw you, you must've been just... just this big!" He gestured a foot or two below my current height.

I shrugged with a grin. "What can I say? Crazy teenage growth spurts or... something." I looked to Alice, weighed my decision quickly before just going with it. "Oh, sorry Alice. I guess you wouldn't know."

Her jaw dropped and Emmett, Jasper, and I were _rolling_, one because come on, admit it, that was clever, and two, she looked so_ surprised_ that I would have said it. I was wiping tears from my eyes, Jasper and Emmett were too but that was more reflex from their human years than out of real need. I was gasping for breath, stomach in stitches, when the last two of their family walked up to the table. Edward immediately broke out laughing as well, and I had very nearly confirmed my suspicions of him being a mind reader, though he never showed any signs of being privy to _my_ thoughts.

The woman walking with Edward was, in all honesty, probably one of the top ten most beautiful women on the planet. Like in the book The Princess Bride, the original by S. Morgenstern, when Morgenstern goes into all kinds of details about just who the most beautiful women in the world are. Rosalie would probably be in the top five even, probably top three, I'm just not traveled enough to weigh her against anyone else. Of course, I had my own private thoughts about just who would be in the first spot, and my thoughts ran a bit more along the lines of darker hair... Rosalie was tall, blond, skinny, curvy; everything that I was not. And she was glaring at me like she knew it.

_What is with the bitchy blonds today?_ I thought, regarding her with a neutral glance.

Emmett stepped up and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Bella, this is my brother Edward and my girlfriend, Rosalie." He leaned in, bringing a hand up to shield his mouth from human eyes, and whispered theatrically, "Well, _wife_ when the humans aren't around."

Rosalie scowled at him and smacked him upside the head. I was confused at first (and so was Emmett by the looks of things,) until she said "Moron, don't tell her anything about us! She's in with the dogs, or have you all forgotten?"

"Babe, Bella's not that bad. And I wouldn't say she's 'in with the dogs,' she's more neutral. We had class together this morning, and she's totally cool!"

"She reeks of mutt," she snarled, looking straight into my eyes.

I was stunned a little silent by the situation, not sure how to react. Part of me was pissed as hell that she would insult my surrogate family like that, another part was stunned that she was so openly hostile after everyone else had been relatively accepting. I was still trying to find some kind of reply that fit the situation when Alice hissed from behind me, too low for the humans to hear.

"Back off, Rose. Bella is mine and Emmett's friend, and you're going to learn to live with it. She's not a Quilleute, so don't prejudice her like she _is_ one."

"We don't even know what she _is_." Rosalie hissed back, voice laced with venom that not even the other students could ignore. Conversations around us quietened and heads turned our way.

"Rosalie, calm down." Jasper said. I felt the air around us tingle, but beyond that nothing happened and I wondered if maybe he was using a gift, and what that gift might be.

Rosalie's muscles relaxed for a moment, before she turned her fiery anger on her brother. "Don't you dare, Jasper!"

"Regardless, we're not going to learn anything from Bella if we never get to know her." Emmett said amiably. "Keeping her at an arm's reach won't get us anywhere."

"I promise to shower every single night if it'll make my, uh, _reek_ more tolerable for you." I smiled in a sweet yet undeniably sarcastic way. I didn't like her much.

Rosalie just scowled at me, turned on her heels, and stalked out of the cafeteria. She stormed past a group of freshman boys who were so frightened they dropped their trays and sprung out of her way. I whistled low and long at her departure.

"Damn. Was it something I said?" I asked, looking up to Emmett with a grin on my face.

**A/N: Alright you people! What'd you think of that one? :D I considered making the Bellice a bit more... prominent, but you'll get plenty more of that later! Slow and steady for now, sorry. I've never been one for those stories that the characters IMMEDIATELY jump in bed with one another, so sorry. Anyways, let me know what you thought! **

**As always, feel COMPLETELY FREE to PM me! No ideas are bad ideas, and the more muse you, my wonderful and avid readers, can pump into me the longer I'll be writing this story! I have a vague and basic plot in mind but I still need filler. **

**Alrighty, well you know the deal from here, I love you all! 3 (:**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Another update, as promised! I swear there's some Bellice here eventually, this is just taking a long time to develop with setting up Bella's past and powers and... other things you will find out in later chapters! ;D Anyways, read on!**

He laughed and sat back down, pulling me down between him and Alice. "Nah, that's just Rose for you. She thinks you're a threat to us, especially after that little incineration speech you gave us the other night. You were just bluffing though, right?" He asked, still grinning.

"Nope!" I said, popping the 'p' and turning to my apple as the Cullen's looked on in stunned, though a bit impressed, silence. "I wouldn't though, don't worry. You guys are nice, and you live a better way. I would as soon destroy a stained glass window as visionaries like yourselves." I was just rolling with the Princess Bride references today, even if that one was a little tweaked...

"Princess Bride?" Alice asked, perking up.

I smiled widely. "Of course! It's my favorite movie."

"Really? It's in my top ten. For vampires, the idea of true love and finding a soul mate is very appealing. All my top ten are 'true love' movies like that."

"I don't know if I could pick just ten movies and line them up." I tilted my head to the side, considering. "No, I definitely couldn't. I like all movies for different reasons."

Alice shrugged. "Eh, to each their own." I remembered having said those very same words myself that morning and smiled.

"Why don't you come over to our place for a movie night!" Emmett boomed like he had just found the cure to cancer. "It'll be fun Bella, I'm sure Carlisle and Esme would love to meet you properly and it would give _me_ more chances to ask you more questions!"

I laughed, but underneath was uneasy. "That's sounds fun, Emmett, but... I don't know. I mean sure, I'm not like the wolves and I can see past their prejudice but they're still my family. I don't know if that would be okay..."

Emmett and Alice both looked crestfallen. "Oh, yeah I guess you're right."

They looked like I had just kicked their puppy so I decided to throw them a bone, even if it was just getting their hopes up for no reason. "I'll talk to them though, see if I can't sway them."

"You should come over even if they _do_ get their hackles up," Alice said, smiling. "It's not everyday we come across a new type of immortal, I think it'd be fun to hang out with you." She gasped like she, too, had just found the cure to cancer. Very emotional lot, they were... "Do you like shopping?"

I grimaced. "No, not really. I mean, I don't dislike going, but I'm more of a get in and get out kind of person. No browsing for me."

The tiny vampire let her jaw hang down in abject horror. "And I had such high hopes for you..."

I put my hands up in submission. "It's just the way my mamma made me!" I pondered that for a moment. "I mean, at least as far as I know. I don't really remember her..." I tapped a forefinger on my chin.

"Really?" Alice asked with interest. "I don't remember my human life at all, nothing before I woke up changed."

"Any idea why?" I asked, just as interested.

"No," she frowned. "Esme thinks it has something to do with my gift. I'm clairvoyant, and she thinks that maybe as trade off for being able to see the future, I can't remember the past. Carlisle and Edward think that maybe I'm repressing it, that my human life ended poorly... I don't even know what vampire changed me."

"That's unfortunate. I'm sorry, Alice. I... don't really know why I can't remember much, to be honest. I mean it was a really, _really_ long time ago for one and I don't exactly have a vampire's memory. But beyond that... It's hard to explain. I existed in a different way than how I exist now. I was the same, but a different person. In a completely different time. I don't remember much from that time at all, except for things that pertain to me and my abilities. Then there is a block of time that is just empty darkness, like I was there but not present. Then I woke up about a century ago and have been wandering ever since. I came to live with the wolves about the same time this new generation was born." I shrugged. "That's all I got. I know who I am, what I can do, and what I was, but not _who_ I was."

"What kind of amnesia is it?" Edward asked, leaning forward with interest. "Do you completely lack the memories, or do you feel that they are there, just beyond your reach?"

"Oh, the second one for sure." I said, taking another large bite from my apple. "I've been working for years to recover it all, but it's hard. My mind doesn't want me to remember. It's shielding me from something, but I don't know why."

"Maybe it's dangerous." Jasper said quietly.

"Yeah, probably." I said, not disagreeing in the slightest, but also not caring either.

He shrugged and grinned. "Well, your attitude seems to be in the right place."

"Do the wolves know all this?" Alice asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What, thinking of calling them up for a little heart to heart?" I joked. "But to answer your question, no. There's a lot they don't know about me. If I know half of everything there is to know about me, they know a fourth of that and you know about one twentieth of the fourth." I grinned widely.

"Not even fair." Emmett sulked, but brightened quickly after that. "Back to questions though! Um, do you have powers?"

"Yes."

"Are they mental powers?" Edward asked.

"Yes." I did have certain powers, such as communing with certain animals, so that counted, as well as reading the emotions of a forest or river, things like that.

"So not physical?" Alice asked, just musing, but I answered her anyways.

"No."

"Mental and physical powers?" Jasper asked, eyebrows raising.

"Yes."

"Can you shape-shift?" Alice asked. "Your blood smells different then the wolves, but different then humans. Sweet, but spicy too."

"Yes." I grinned.

"Into a wolf?" Emmett asked.

I wavered. "Well..." Well, unless I really needed to, then I could. But that was much more complicated.

"Do you have more than one form?" Alice asked.

I looked to her and tapped my nose, indicating that she was right.

"Were you born in the States?" Jasper asked.

"Nope."

Alice sighed. "Guys this is hopeless, we're not getting anywhere. I can barely see Bella in my visions, but she _is_ there, and I don't see any of us guessing what she is anywhere in the future."

"I want to keep going though!" Emmett said, almost whining. "Will you give us a demonstration of your powers?" He asked me.

"Hmm..." I considered it. "Maybe a few of them. All of them would ruin the surprise."

"That's good enough for me!" Emmett grinned.

"We're going to be late if we don't get a move on, guys." Alice said, frowning. I looked around in surprise, noticing that the cafeteria was largely empty. "Oh well. See you in seventh, Bella!" She smiled at me, stood, dumped her full tray of food into the trash, then practically danced away.

"Eyes over here, killer." Emmett joked, though I barely heard him.

"What?"

"Edward is going to walk you to class." Jasper said with a polite smile.

"Oh! Thanks, I guess."

"It's no problem at all. I'll enjoy getting to know you more Bella. I'm sure Jasper would too, but the only class he has with you, you also share with Rosalie so in advance he would like to apologize."

I smiled. "It's no big deal." I looked to Jasper. "Living with wolves, literally, has taught me a few things about speaking the right thing at the right time. Don't set her off and maybe we'll escape with all our limbs in tact."

"Which would be good for you, I assume. Your limbs can't be put back on, right?" Edward asked, head cocked to the side.

"Well, I've never had any limbs _removed_ so I wouldn't exactly know, but I'd assume no."

"Ah. Well, we best keep it that way, eh?" Edward asked with an easy grin then turned to give Jasper a quick kiss on the cheek goodbye.

Earth Science was largely unremarkable. Angela shared this class with me as well, along with Eric, and a friendly boy named Ben Chaney and another of Angela's friends, Katie. To my elation, neither Jessica, Lauren, or mike were here. Elective science classes weren't their forte, go figure! Edward sat across the room from me, but I was right in a pocket of my human almost-friends, so I talked with them throughout completing the worksheet we had been assigned. Apparently the four of them, and maybe the airheads, were going to first beach on Thursday. The sun was supposed to show so they'd be surfing and having a bonfire, and I was officially invited, apparently.

"Isn't that like inviting her to her own party, though? I mean technically she's the one who lives there, it's _her_ beach, right?" Katie asked with a laugh.

Eric waved her off. "You think too much, just roll with it. So whaddya say, Bella? Wanna hang with us townies?"

I smiled. "We'll see. If I can get away from the house, sure. I'll let you know tomorrow."

"Saweet!" Katie grinned. "And feel free to bring some of those attractive Rez boys with you, yeah?"

I laughed at her thinking any of my brothers were attractive. "Uh, if I can find any I'll pass the word along."

"Are you _kidding_ me? I've seen them down there, all shirtless and whatnot. If you can't find any, _I_ will," she smiled.

"They're brothers to me, thinking of them like that..." I shuddered. "Makes me feel dirty all over." They all laughed at that.

"That's what the ocean is for. Hook me up, bro." Katie whispered as the teacher, Mr. Cascella glared at us.

Edward had a Current Events class in the same building as my Psyche class so once again we fond ourselves walking through the halls. We were talking nonchalantly the whole time, and the whole time I could feel this little niggling presence at the base of my skull, and in made the hairs on the back of my neck raise. Finally, I said under my breath, "Look man, I don't know _what_ your gift is, but it's giving me goosebumps. Could you maybe try a little less? You were fine at lunch but now that you're working at it, it's just annoying. No offense." I said quickly. I didn't mean it to come out bratty, but it put me on edge.

"You can... feel me using my gift? Or trying to, anyways?"

"Yes, and it's not working. What do you do, read minds or something?" I muttered again.

"How did you know?" Edward asked, looking more intrigued than aggravated which I guess, from one point of view or another, was a good thing.

"The meeting with the wolves, I knew you either understood how animals speak or could understand their thoughts, then today at lunch, as soon as you came into focus with the others you started laughing." I shrugged. "But it doesn't work on me, does it?"

He just shook his head, lips pursed.

"I don't know why so don't ask." I itched the back of my head, shivers running down my spine. "When you force it like that I feel like there are ants crawling over my skin, particularly around my back and neck."

"Well, I apologize then. Though most of the time I can't control it. I can never turn it off, though I can focus on one person more than another. I'll stop trying so hard, I promise." He smiled, trying to placate me.

My shoulders sagged in relief. "Thanks, I appreciate it. Well, this looks like my room. Enjoy your class!"

"You too." He waved a little then walked off. I turned back around towards the door and, like a ghost or something, Rosalie had appeared _right behind me_. "Ah! Sweet mother of God!" I startled, hand flying to my chest. "Sheesh, wear a bell or something!"

He eyes narrowed at me and the thought crossed my mind that maybe I shouldn't talk to her like I would talk to the wolves. She was a bit more... uptight. "What are you trying to pull?"

"Pardon?" I asked.

She scoffed. "I mean, what's your angle? Just tell me so we can get this whole pretense out of the way and move on with our lives. Sam sent you here to keep an eye on us, didn't he?"

"No, he didn't." I said with all the patience I could muster. "All he wants is _his_ people as far away from _your_ people as possible. _I_ came here out of my own volition, believe it our not. Though if I knew what kind of reception I'd get for trying to be open-minded to something I didn't understand, instead of just sticking with the same old stigmas, maybe I would have reconsidered." I glared back at her.

"Watch your mouth, you insolent brat." She snarled at me.

With that direct insult, I felt just a little bit of my inner beast slip through. I know my eyes flashed blue for just a moment, and when I spoke my voice had taken on a little bit of the sultry sheen my demiform used. "And you shut yours. I'm not a spy, I'm not a sneak, I'm not here to send all your little secrets back to Sam. Sam is not my alpha, and I am not your enemy until you make me one. I'm here to learn. I'm here with an open mind because here I thought you all showed some kind of promise. So go on, be as protective as you want, put on your little bitch act, I don't care. I don't care about _you_, Rosalie. I care about Alice, and Emmett, and Edward, and Jasper. They're giving me the same chance I'm giving you, and if you're too stubborn to see it, then we're going to have a problem. You don't want _me_ as your problem. I would love to be friends with all of your family, including you, but for some reason you're dead set that I should be an enemy, just because of who I associate with. I'm sure you've spoken with vampires that don't adhere to your particular diet, but does that make you a monster?"

Rosalie looked cold with rage, so angry that she literally might explode. Her eyes were pitch black. I wondered if her control slipped, would she harm the humans? Worry flooded my gut, temporarily washing the anger away.

I frowned. "Look, do you need to get out of here?"

She shook for a few more seconds before jerking her head up in down in a frantic affirmation. She was afraid to breathe.

"Alright then." I felt down within me and touched my power. I pulled it into my hand and formed it to match my need. I was a master of fire, and a vampire's thirst was just another form. I would pull her thirst into me for a moment, until we were free of the school. It wouldn't harm me, I was impervious, but if would give her enough control to make it from here to the parking lot. My hand glowed a faint blue-orange color though the halls were empty enough that it wouldn't be noticed. She probably would have jerked away, but I think she was too afraid to move. I set my hand on her bare elbow and felt the searing fire that was her thirst flow into my hand, up my arm, and circle in my body like a happy dog being reunited with it's master.

Rosalie gasped, clutching her throat. "Wha-?"

"No time. It won't last forever. As soon as I pull back my hand it will return just as strongly as before, I'm only holding it for a moment. We need to get you out of town. Come on." I led her down the halls without waiting for her response, out the front doors, across the parking lot, into the woods, and then we were running.

I wasn't as fast as a vampire in my human form, but I was fast enough. Running at maybe fifty or sixty miles and hour we were out of the town boundaries in maybe five minutes. I could sense through the forest where there were the fewest humans and made a b-line for that general area. When the trees told me it was safe I stopped.

"Alright, I'm taking my hand off now. Please don't attack me, I'm in no mood for a fight."

She nodded and I removed my arm. He eyes, previously light gold were jet black in an instant. A growl ripped from her throat and she flashed into the bushes. I almost shifted and went after her but in a second I heard the snap of a small spine. I walked around so I would come at her head on, less threateningly than sneaking up behind her, and saw her crouching over a small rabbit, now completely drained of blood.

"Rosalie, calm down. You need to hunt, sure, but you're too close to town." I pointed in a north-north-eastern direction. "There aren't any people in that direction for a long time. Take some deep breaths, get your control back in order, and go hunt."

I watched the blond take a few deep breaths, stand, look at me in one long, hard, confused glance, then disappeared into the bushes.

As soon as my sensitive nose couldn't smell her anymore, I sighed and pulled a hand down over my face in exasperation. I couldn't very well go back to school now without Rosalie, the administration would think I'd dragged her into the woods and killed her. No, I'd have to go back to La Push and have

Billy call in some kind of excuse. What exactly that excuse would be was his problem for the moment. I sighed and brought two fingers to my lips, whistling loudly. It was only a few seconds before I heard paw steps thudding on the ground, then Mavrik sprang from the brush and joined me.

"So, how was your day?" He asked, his voice alight with mirth and a wee bit of sarcasm.

"Oh, joyous!" I said, rolling my eyes. "Some of the humans were nice, other were tedious. Some of the vampires are nice, some make threats on your life then get so angry that you need to escort them off school grounds before they kill someone. All in all, I'm ready for bed." I grumbled, jogging off in the general direction of La Push, ignoring Mav's laughter as he trotted after me.

"What did you do to the poor girl, hmm?"

"She was getting up in my face, so I got up in hers." I grumbled, moving along, vaulting fallen trees with ease, ducking around ferns and bushes.

"Didn't roast her though?" He asked reproachfully.

I sighed. "No, I did _not_. It took a lot of restraint, but she's still alive and bitching. Oh well. Hopefully she'll warm up eventually."

Mav snorted. "Personally, I would have singed her. You know, just a little bit."

"Yes, but that's why _I'm_ me and _you're_ a wolf."

He rolled his eyes, lumbering along beside me like a great hulking shadow. "Ouch, playing the species card? That was uncalled for."

"I'm entitled, because I brought you with me through our long sleep, so therefore, suck it up."

"Oh, excellent logic. And what if you brought me along as a punishment? I don't know, staying with you for an eternity is almost as bad as dying a gruesome death back forever long ago."

"By all means, I could probably send you back."

He shivered. "I said _almost_. I may not remember much, but I know enough to guess that would _not_ be in my best interest. Are you sure there's no spell you could try that would bring back our memories?"

I sighed. "We've talked about this."

"But what if we traveled? We both know what we felt when we were in Rome, and again in Switzerland, all those years ago. Going back to our cave might not be a bad idea either. There might be something to it!"

I knew that these gaps in Mav's memory had always bothered him, more than he let on. He was a very stoic but static creature. Routine, predictability, stability. He really wanted to know. "I know Mav, and maybe one day. But right now... there's something here. There's a reason we've been in Forks for so long, and I have a gut feeling that it has something to do with the Cullen's. I need to figure them out before we go anywhere."

He sighed. "I know. I felt it, too. What do you suppose it is about them?"

A shiver ran down my spine, like it always did when long forgotten words brushed the surface of my mind. In these moments of insight I felt deep, bottomless pools of wisdom and knowledge locked deep inside me. I just didn't know how to _reach_ them... I sighed, shaking off the feeling. "The Fates entwine them. So much of the future rides with them, and in their past. They are catalysts for very important things to come, I'm sure of it. I think maybe they are the reason we woke up at the time we did."

"But they weren't in Forks when we arrived. What if we're too late, and things have moved into action without us?"

I shook my head. "No, I think we arrived when we did so that we could kindle a relationship with the wolves. They're important too, I know that for sure. Also the land around La Push is... strong. It has a lot on energy and that's good for creatures like us." I smiled down at my oldest friend and he grinned back.

"That is true. I feel myself grow stronger every time I step onto their territory." He puffed out his chest, strutting like a proud rooster.

"You are plenty strong without the power of their spirits, Mav. When we return, would you like to come to the cliffs with me? All this talk of energy and fate makes me want to look them over again."

"Of course." Mav said, nodding.

Ever since we arrived, something about the Cliffs on the north side of La Push had... practically called to me. I always felt a presence there. Dormant, sure, but there. I had been waiting for it to wake up and make itself known for decades. Part of me said that I would have to do the waking, but I had no idea how...

"Thanks, Mav. Maybe Seth would want to come along, you could try and teach him to fight some. Gods know he'll need it." I shook my head, remembering Paul's little outburst the other day.

By now, seeing as us jogging was actually about as fast as cars are aloud to drive on the road, we were nearing the border of our land. Mav put on a little extra burst of speed and I laughed, quickening my pace until I was neck and neck with him again. We leaped over the border exuberantly and were immediately flanked by Leah and Jake. They yipped at me, not saying anything particularly, just greeting me. I laughed at their antics.

"Did you miss me?" I asked.

"Our classes get out an entire _hour_ earlier, Bells! We've been bored stiff!" Jake said.

"We were on border patrol when we caught your scent. Why are you so early?" Leah asked.

"It's a long story, and probably one I should tell the whole pack at once."

"Those bloodsuckers didn't give you any problems, did they?" Jake growled, menacingly.

"Hold your horses, fur ball. We'll get there when we get there!" I laughed.

Later that evening the pack and I huddled around a camp fire on the beach, and Mav was nowhere to be found. A few council members had desperately wanted to attend, to gather any useful intel about the 'Cold Ones' but I blocked them out. I wasn't a fan of most of them, to be honest. Billy I liked, and Sue too, but that was it. The others were narrow-minded, fat, angry old men. I avoided them whenever I could, which they tolerated because they knew that if anyone could defend them from the 'cold ones' it was me.

"Alright Bella, out with it." Quil said around a mouthful of hot dog.

"Yeah, quit keeping us waiting." Jared said, a bit irritably.

"Yeah, yeah, fine. Don't get your panties in a wad. Well, first class I didn't have any of them in class with me, I met some of the townies, blah, blah, not important. Second class I have, the big guy sits right in front of me. He's big, black hair, muscles like tree trunks. His name is Emmett, and he's mated to the young blond. Next class I had the small female, her name is Alice."

For some reason... I couldn't bring myself to reveal things about them, like their personalities or gifts. I withheld personalities, traits, likes and dislikes because I really doubted the wolves would listen. I didn't know why I kept their abilities a secret. These guys were my family, right?

"After that was lunch. I, uhm, I ate lunch with the Cullen's today. They invited me to their table." I winced, just knowing what would come. _Wait for it..._

**A/N: Mwahaha! Cliffy! Well, minor cliffy. What do you guys think the wolves' reactions will be, hmm? Any ideas? :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Well... there were some great guesses for the pack's reactions! I thoroughly enjoyed reading each and every one xD Drum roll please...**

"What?" Paul (really, I'm shocked) jumped to his feet. "What questions did they ask, what were they trying to pull, huh? Bella, so help me, if you told them anything-"

Okay, so maybe Paul wasn't my favorite person ever, and maybe my temper was kind of short, but I felt completely justified in my reaction. Honestly, I had never liked the boy. Even watching him grow up, watching how he bullied the other boys, I always kept an eye one him. I had the suspicion that he would become the angry, volatile boy he is today. It was a pack mother's responsibility to treat her young how to respect one another, and while I was by no means the pack mother, I was the oldest and strongest, and I would no stand for such insolence directed at anyone, least of all myself.

Paul stood across the campfire from me, between Collin and Jared. A growl, unbidden, ripped from my throat and the fire flared, blazing a good fifteen feet into the air. Many of the boys yelped and scrambled backwards. Paul would have, except as soon as the fire flared up, I stood as quickly as lighting flashes and sprang through the flames. I landed in front of him and in the same sweeping movement I landed in, using my momentum, swung my arm low and grabbed his family jewels in a tight fist. He yelped, but instinct told him it would be a very bad idea to move. I squeezed until his eyes began to water then dimmer the flames down so that they were no more than coals.

I forced my demiform from springing forth, but my voice took on that same hue. "Paul, I don't know what kind of person you think I am, but I sure hope I don't strike you as someone who would trade their family secrets away for a seat at a _lunch table_, because if you do, we have a problem. To assume that I would have told them squat about the pack just because they asked pretty please with a cherry on top offends me down to the bone. Reserve your opinions and suspicions until it is time to speak, do not jump to conclusions and try to shove your misplaced ideals down others throats, just because you can't control your temper. Your pack brothers may stand for your outbursts, but I am older and stronger, and I will not have you speak that way towards me. I may look eighteen, but I have seen and done things that would have you down on your knees, crying for mommy. I've watched you behave this way for years, even before your wolf genes activated. Sam may be your alpha, and you will defer to him before me, but between _just_ you and just me, I'm Queen Bitch. Am I clear, LaHote?"

He clenched his jaw and hissed, "Crystal," partly from anger, partly from fear, and partly from pain. Good.

I shoved him back into a sitting position and walked back through the flames which were crackling once again. I noted everyone's wary eyes, especially Sam's, as I sat. "Anyways, if I may continue?" I looked to Sam, who nodded slowly, never taking his eyes from me.

I didn't want to meet his eyes, or anyone else's for that matter, so I bent down and scooped up a handful of fire, watching it run and skitter around my palm and arm. "While we sat at lunch, they did ask many questions, but every single one of them were about me. They wanted to know what I was, where I came from, what I could do. The only thing they asked that even concerned you was whether even _you_ knew everything about me, to which I answered no." I grinned at them, and most of the boys, my closest friends at least, rolled their eyes. For years they had been trying to unravel me, just as the Cullen's did, but I gave them nothing. It was hard when I hardly knew the answers myself.

"Anyways, I told them I would outright tell them nothing, but if they guessed something I would not lie to them."

"Bella, with all respect," Jake started slowly, grinning at me, "Why? Why give them anything at all?"

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "It's complicated. I don't even understand it myself. I'll try my best to explain though, since you asked so nicely." Jake sat directly to the right of me and I reached over to pinch his cheek. He swatted my hand away, but smiled still. "Do you know the feeling you get in your gut just as the moon is about become completely full? Or how you know the second the sun is going to rise about the horizon? How you can feel that a storm is coming, deep in your gut?"

"Yeah, but only when we're wolves." Quill said, rolling his eyes.

"Regardless, you know how you can always count on your gut? The feelings I get about the Cullens are like that. I don't know what exactly to expect, but I know that they're important to upcoming events. I also know that they're not our enemies." The boys began to growl and grumble, rustle and fidget, afraid to burst out like Paul had, but majorly discontented. "Hey, hey! Look, I'm just telling you what my instincts tell me, alright? They intend none of you any harm. Alice, Emmett, and the other two boys really aren't that bad."

"Is that supposed to imply that the blond _is_?" Leah asked, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed and smiled a little bit. "See, now this is the best part. Rosalie, that's her name, has the same attitude towards you all that you have towards them. Well, less need to destroy, but she makes up for it with lots and lots of hate."

"Hah. It's mutual, blondie." Jared muttered.

"_Anyways_, at lunch she stalks up to the table and starts going at her family about how they're consorting with the enemy, how I smell like dog, blah, blah, blah. Well, I told her I pinky promised to shower every night and she got all offended and stalked away." The guys broke out in laughter, throwing jibes around about Rosalie. I ignored them. "After lunch I have an Earth Science class with Edward and Jasper which was largely uneventful. After that, though, is where it gets interesting. After ES is my Psych class, which I share with Jasper and Rosalie.

"I was standing outside of my room and Rosalie appears out of _no where_, and starts chewing me out about how she wanted to drop pretenses, for me to just tell her what Sam sent me there for. Naturally, I told her to shove it up her ass. Well, a bit more eloquently than that, but she got pissed as hell. She started to lose control." The pack began to growl. One boy at first, Sam I think, then more until everyone was rumbling. "She froze, as still as a stone, and held her breath. She was fighting it so hard. I asked her if she needed to get out of there and all she could do was nod, just once. I took her by the arm and got her out of the building, out into the woods, so she could hunt. She disappeared, and then Mav and I walked back to the beach."

Sam was the first to break. "Bella this is serious. She clearly can't control herself around humans. They're a danger, they need to be taken out." He stood and the other boys began to stand too, rallying, ready to go.

"No!" I shot to my feet. "Sam, sit down. Don't look at it like that. Don't you understand? Rosalie _resisted_. She was so afraid to lose control, she couldn't do anything. Sam, she _hates_ me as much as she hates you, more than you hate them, even! Would any of you, no matter what the cause, ever accept help from the Cullens? Think about it, for just a second. I mean it, really think. Come up with one scenario in which you would willingly, without a single complaint, get help from a vampire."

I looked each of them in the eyes, waiting for any of them to come up with an answer.

"_That_ is how dedicated they are to preserving human lives. She was _that_ dead set against killing a human, losing even a fragment of control, that she blindly trusted me to keep her, her family, and every human in that school safe. Could any of you have done the same? I don't think _that_ is worth an execution. No harm, no foul."

Sam stood in silence for two minutes, considering what I said. There was no sound in the clearing except for the wind and the crackle of the fire. However, it was not him who spoke first. It was Leah. "Sam, we can't do it. I- I think Bella is right. Our grandfathers told us how the Cullen's always tried to hard to be human, and I think Rosalie showed the same kind of determination today. Leeches are evil. But, I don't think the Cullen's are leeches."

"How can you even say that?" Jared asked, clearly disgusted with her.

"Man, I think she's right too." Jake said. "I hate bloodsuckers because they kill with no remorse, no guilt, they love destruction. I hate them with everything in me, so I don't think it's right to eradicate the Cullen's, when it's entirely possible that more bloodsuckers will become like they are which means less problems for us. I know some of you love to kill them, and I'll never pass up the chance to tear apart a leech or two, but more than that I just want to act like a normal teenager, you know? The Cullen's keep other vampires away. Our job isn't to save the world, it's to keep our families safe."

"I agree." Quil, Embry, and Seth all muttered with varying intensities.

"This is shit," Paul growled. "How are you guys overlooking that one of those bloodsuckers nearly lost control today, in _our_ town, and nearly killed people!"

"Key word is nearly, Paul." Leah said, voice flat and lacking emotion.

"What does that matter! Who says tomorrow will be different? Maybe tomorrow Bella won't be around to stop that crazy bitch!"

"Watch your mouth, Paul." Sam growled at him. It was clear he had decided. "A very long time ago, vampires decimated our village. We have strong reason to hate them, and in many situations that hate is completely justified... However, the Cullens were not those leeches. Bella, Leah, and Jake all make good points. For now, we're going to watch them carefully and wait. Right now, under the circumstances, _we_ would be the ones breaking our grandfather's treaty, not them. Until _they_ break the treaty, we will do as our forefather bid us and protect our tribe."

I nodded, keeping my outward face stoic and generally apathetic, but on the inside an unexpected bubble of joy floated up into my throat. Why, I didn't know. Sure, I was quickly becoming close to the Cullen's, but this elation was totally unwarranted. I tried to shove it down, but the magic in my blood refused to be tamed, and instead I began to quiver, itching with the need to go somewhere, to fly. I stood abruptly and the chatter around me stopped, eyes flicked to me.

"I have to go." I said to Sam, then waved a good bye to Jake, Leah, and Seth, then ran into the darkness.

Mav wasn't far behind me. "What's up?"

"I haven't flown in too long. My scales are itching." I said through gritted teeth. "And... I'm feeling the weirdest things. I don't understand them. Eager anticipation, joy, a buzzing energy within me. I wonder if something is wrong..."

"Does it feel magical?" Mav asked, running along side as I put space between myself and any other humans, magical or otherwise.

"No! That's the thing that bothers me. I can't control it."

"Well, maybe you're not supposed to." He said it in a tone that reminded me of my voice sometimes. Sometimes, when we are closer to our memories, when we've hit a vein, our wisdom and age shows through the cracks. We knew it was just best to listen to our past selves' advice and move on.

"Alright. Now I gotta go before I bust out of my skin."

"Sure thing, Chief. See ya back at the house." He grinned and pulled a u-turn, disappearing behind me.

I sighed then inhaled, smelling the sea air in front of me. I knew I was fast approaching the Northern Cliffs and grinned. I rolled my shoulders as I ran, digging deep inside my mind for the nugget of energy that was my Demiform, and grasped it. I took off my sweatshirt, revealing the light tank top I wore underneath, with convenient wing slots pre-cut in it. The tree line broke, the cliff was at my feet, I leaped, and pulled my second form around me in a blanket of warm energy that made my skin tingle in pleasurable ways. I was falling, then I was flying.

My wing span in this form, when fully extended, was about twelve feet. My wings weren't like angel's wings, they weren't covered in downy fluff. They were bare skin, white as snow, strong as steel. With every wing beat I could feel the muscles wrapped throughout my entire body pulse and churn. My hair, as white as my wings now, billowed out behind me. My blue eyes, ten times sharper than a raptors, twice as good as a vampires, scanned every leaf, ant, and crevasse for miles in any direction.

I flew far to the north, zipping through the sky with the speed of a jet plane. It wasn't long before I soared over the Salish Seas, crossing the Canadian border swooping low over tree tops and once more over water, skimming over the Strait of Georgia. Vancouver glowed along the eastern horizon but I was headed even farther north. Banking slowly to the left, my body knowing where to take me, I allowed my mind to wander over the Canadian landscape. The air was frigidly cold, the mountain peaks below me were snow capped, the trees exclusively pine. I had flown these skies hundreds if not thousands of times since Mav and I came to live with the wolves. Looking down, I saw the moonlight reflected in Chilko lake and I grinned, diving down. I broke the surface of the water, wings folded flat against my back.

The water felt lukewarm against my heated skin, though I knew it to be frigid with snow melt. Refreshed I angled myself up and out once more, flying now just feet above the water's calm surface and gazing at my reflection as I appeared to fly through a lake of stars. I flew quite a few laps around the lake as I considered everything, and I do mean everything. I thought long and hard about the wolves and my past, and now the Cullens and one Cullen in particular... Even thinking her name made my stomach clench in an undecided way. I didn't understand it at all, but I felt as if... almost as if my old self were trying to call out to me whenever she was around. I couldn't help but wonder if maybe she was triggering something somehow, or would perhaps trigger something in the future. I felt stronger and more assured in my skin when I spoke with her which was strange. I'd always felt out of place in this memory-less body. Perhaps it was just because she too lacked memories of her past and I was simply connecting with that.

I sighed, resolving to spend more time with her in the future and watch for changes carefully. I turned around and flew back to Forks at a much more leisurely pace, taking time to scope out mountains and peaks that held particular interest for me. That was another strange thing I didn't understand, how certain places tugged at my soul the way that they did. Basically, everything about me was strange and foreign and I didn't understand a damn thing. Depressing, yes, but c'est la vie. The sun was rising by the time I landed back on the Northern Cliffs and pulled my human form back over myself. I ran a hair through my dark and light striped hair and sighed deeply. One day this would all make sense. I had an unlimited amount of time, anyways. But for now, I had to get ready for day two at school.

I jogged back to Jake and Billy's house, sticking to the tree line and sprinting when I could. I slipped into the house without a sound and made my way upstairs just as quietly. I slid into dark gray skinny jeans and a white shirt with a rainbow DC logo on it, then pulled my black and white zip-up over that, sliding into my white DCs once again. I walked to the bathroom and glimpsed in the mirror, running my fingers through my wild hair, not bothering with a brush because I figured it looked just as well without one. I brushed my teeth, passed on the make up (like always) then skipped downstairs. Billy had awoken by now and had parked his wheelchair in front of the fridge to better rummage around.

"G'morning, Billy." I said, my accent slipping back in as I tried to stifle a yawn.

He looked over to me then raised an eyebrow. "Hey Bells. Late night?"

I grimaced. "More like no night. I just got in. The boys were driving me nuts last night, I had to get out for a bit."

Billy frowned. "Mhmm, I heard about that."

I rolled my eyes. "Which bit? My day at school, the part where I threatened to castrate Paul, or the part where I called off an attack on the Cullens? I'm sure you were thrilled with it all."

Billy laughed a little. "Completely enthralled. I just hope you know what you're doing." He sighed.

I laughed and leaned in, giving him a hug and snatching a pre-made sandwich from the fridge. "Don't I always."

He just shooed me out of the house, saying, "Go on, get! You'll be late if you dawdle any longer."

I gave him a weak salute, "Yessir."

Mavrik was waiting for me outside, laying on the porch, but he sprang up when I appeared and stayed by my side as I jogged through the woods towards the main road. "So how was your flight?"

"Informative. I think Alice holds a key to who I am." I said, thoughtful.

"Oh?" He asked with interest. "How so?"

"Well," I started, pausing to chew on my lip as I considered how best to phrase it, "I feel like a part of the old me is trying to break through when I'm with her. She's important, somehow. Beyond that," I just shrugged.

"Well, keep an eye on her."

"I intend to." We came to the roadside and continued running at an increased speed, slowing down only when we heard cars rumble past. Two passed without an notice of us, beyond the fact that I was walking with a wolf at my side, until we crossed onto the road that led into town. I heard the approach of several cars and Mavrik and I slowed, keeping my head down until I noticed that the cars slowed as well. They came from behind us, only two as far as I could figure. I looked up when I heard a familiar booming voice.

"I normally don't pick up hitchhikers, but do you need a lift?" Emmett laughed, leaning around Alice who was smiling at me from the passenger seat of a massive white jeep. Behind them was a silver Volvo and I could see Edward and Jasper smiling in the front two seats.

I laughed and smiled, "Good morning to you, too!" I looked down to Mav then back at them, "Sounds great, but I'd hate to leave my friend here in the dust."

"There's room for you both!" Alice said with keen interest, eying Mav with an excited eye.

I looked down and asked, "How about it?"

"Why not?" He shrugged and I laughed, partly at his aloof attitude and partially at the Cullens intrigued expressions.

We walked up to the Jeep and seeing as there was no roof on it at the moment, just a roll cage, I just vaulted up an in, Mav following suit. Emmett's laughter boomed out once again and we were off, driving at a ridiculously fast speed... for mortals. "So who's your friend, Bella? He was with you when we met at the boundary but we weren't introduced properly." Emmett asked, eying my in the rear-view mirror.

"This is Mavrik, my right hand, beta, second in command, King of Wolves, etcetera. He's been with me for as long as I can remember."

"Tell them I'm pleased to meet them, and I'm not sure what the shifters are going on about, they smell fine to me."

I laughed and relayed the message, causing Alice and Emmett to break out in grins. "It's nice to officially meet you too, Mavrik!" Alice said with a smile. She turned around in her seat, but looked past me and instead to her other brother driving behind us. "Can you read _his_ mind, Ed?"

"It's... fuzzy. Like bad reception. I know there are thoughts there, but they're practically on a different frequency," we heard Edward respond from the car behind us.

"What am I, a radio?" Mavrik rolled his eyes, but I didn't bother relaying _that_.

"So, no Rosalie today?" I asked, hesitant.

Emmett sighed, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. "No, she may not be here for a few days..." He paused, as if unsure whether to go on or not. "She's not feeling too great about herself, you know? We work really hard to control ourselves and we pride ourselves on it. If you weren't there yesterday, well, that could have been really bad. We wanted to thank you for that too, by the way-"

I cut him off, "Please don't thank me, because if I _hadn't_ been there it wouldn't have happened at all."

"But it did happen and you did something amazing to make it better when by all means you didn't need to. Rosalie was being a bitch." Alice said, as if she were commenting on the weather.

"I still provoked it though." I said, unable to let it go.

"Whatever!" Emmett said, his usual loud, jovial personality returning. "I just wanna know how you did it!"

I grinned and said, "Well, if you can guess!"

He groaned and rolled his eyes but began guessing anyways. "Okay, um... are you, or is anyone you're related to a vampire?"

"No," I said as evenly as possible, though I held in a shudder. The very thought...

"Curses." He groaned, "Can you just make that part of the demonstration you promised? I'm never gonna guess it, am I?"

I laughed, "Yeah, you probably won't. And I'll consider it!"

Emmett flashed me a look like a kid who's been told to keep his hand out of the cookie jar. "When do we _get_ this demonstration?"

I sighed and brought my hand to my chin, considering. I knew I needed to keep Alice close to unravel the mysteries surrounding her, and it occurred to me that the more open I was with her, the more she was able to experience, the greater the chances were of her triggering whatever it was that involved her. I smiled and asked, "Are you free after school today? Or... even better, now?" I asked. I _really_ didn't want to spend another day listening to teachers droning on and on. Billy had told the administration that I left yesterday because of an anxiety attack, I could always have him call in and say that I needed another day off.

Emmett grinned from ear to ear. "Hell yeah we're free! You hear that Ed?" He asked, raising his eyes to the rear view mirror.

Edward gave a thumbs up and grinned.

I pulled out a cell phone and flipped it open, punching in Billy's number. It only rang twice before he picked up, saying, "Bella? What's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong, Billy, just something's come up. Can you call the school for me and let them know I'm not feeling very well and won't be coming in today?"

There was a long pause, then, "...Does this have anything to do with the Cullens?"

"Yes, it does," I answered shortly, hoping he wouldn't challenge me.

He just sighed. "Alright, fine. I just- ...I hope you know what you're doing Bella."

"Have I ever let you down before? It's just one of those things Billy, there's something here."

Another deeper sigh, then, "I trust you. Have a good day."

I smiled. "You too, Billy. See you later."

We hung up.

Emmett grinned at me and asked, "Something important, huh? Involving us? Typical. So where to, Bell-zebub?"

I smirked, "Well, one of you in particular," my gaze flicked to Alice, "but I'm sure you all have a part to play. I've yet to figure out just _what_ is happening but the universe is all... off-kilter. And the most secluded location you can find. Somewhere there isn't a chance that humans are going to find us."

"We know the perfect place!" Emmett said, pulling a u-turn and speeding away even faster than before.

His perfect place turned out to be a massive open field. According to Edward they played baseball here during thunderstorms. I smiled at the idea. "I'd like to watch one of those games sometime."

"Can do!" Alice beamed. "We're always in need of a ref, the boys cheat."

"Do not!" Emmett whined.

Jasper walked towards us, snapping his phone shut. "Carlisle and Esme say they can get here in about fifteen minutes if you don't mind waiting Bella. Carlisle is intrigued as is Esme and they're both very excited to meet you properly. Rosalie may or may not come, we're not sure."

I smiled. "I have no problem waiting." My mind flickered back to my conversation with Angela the previous day and I cocked my head to the side, eying Edward and Jasper. "So, you two, I hope I'm not intruding but I was wondering..."

"Hmm?" Jasper asked, goading me to continue.

"I had heard a rumor at school and was questioning the validity of it. Pardon my bluntness, but the humans seen to think you two are an item, but you don't act like it outside of school."

Edward grinned. "You're pretty sharp, Bella. Well, to answer your question, no we aren't together. It was one of my better ideas, seeing as I find human females extremely annoying and Jasper doesn't like his control tested, we decided this time around at school we would drop subtle hints that we were closer than brothers. I figured the sharp kids would pick up on it and spread it around and then we wouldn't have to go around carry crowbars all the time to pry off suitors."

I laughed aloud and said, "That's pretty smart, I'll hand it to you. I'm surprised your, oh how to phrase this, _manly egos_, allow you to go through with it though."

Jasper grinned and said, "Bella, I'm over two hundred years old and I've fought in three different wars. I'm secure enough in my masculinity that it doesn't bother me at all, especially if it means keeping those breathing blood bags a healthy distance away from me." He grimaced.

"And it's easy for me as well, seeing as I _do_ bat for both teams, so to say." Edward smirked and I just shrugged.

"Cool deal, I was just curious. Anyways, while we wait, I was wondering if you all wouldn't mind sharing your past, and in exchange I'll tell you what I know of mine?" I raised an eyebrow, knowing they would be eager.

"Deal!" Emmett was the first to boom.

**A/N: Wha-cha! *that's supposed to be... a sound effect of some sort* New Chapter, heck yes! Way to go, me! As for the clarification about Eddie's and Jazzy's relationship, well, Angela's allowed to be wrong, right? Maybe? So maybe I forgot what I had written, maybe, _but that's why I need you reviewers to keep me on track and up to par_! Cookies for all of you! :D Also, cookies go great with milk and reviews, so... yeah! I love you all!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: First and foremost, It is hot in Arizona! I should know, I spent the last week or so melting in the heat But now I'm back, and to celebrate I present you all with a new chapter! Enjoy!**

_"Deal!" Emmett was the first to boom. _

He told me all about how he was the youngest of them, even though his age was physically in the middle. In years Carlisle was oldest, born back in the sixteen hundreds, then he changed Edward next in 1901, which was the same year Alice was changed. Jasper was changed back in 1863, so he was the second oldest but Carlisle didn't change him. Next up Carlisle changed Esme in 1906, but she was 26 at the time which gave her the oldest physical age in their Coven. Then came Rosalie, then finally Emmett. Alice and Jasper didn't join their coven until after that, so even though Emmett and Rosalie are the youngest, technically Alice and Jasper are the newest.

Emmett told me how his family was poor and he had tons of siblings, then how a bear had attacked him and Rosalie had saved him. Edward told me the story of how he was dying of Spanish Influenza when Carlisle saved him. Jasper told the story of his time with spent in the military and with a vampire named Maria, and Alice told me everything she knew of her past, which wasn't much. Just early bouts of strangeness that got her landed in an insane asylum. They told me how Carlisle had been changed on the job of slaying vampires, ironically enough, and of Esme's attempted suicide. Emmett said he would let Rose tell me her story in her own time. They told me how they all met and what they've done since then, were they've lived and the skills they had come to have. They told me of their battles with other vampires and the constant threat of the Volturi.

"I think that's just about all the hard facts," Edward said. "So how about you?"

I sighed and sat down on the ground, not so much because I was tired but because I thought it would be best to ground myself less I fidget and pace as I spoke, as I was prone to do. "It's... complicated, really. My existence is fragmented and not entirely my own. I am the same body that lived thousands upon thousands of years ago, with the same mind and the same past, but I'm _different_. Time has wiped away the specifics and left me but a husk of my previous self. I retain my basic abilities but many are still locked inside. I don't know what they are necessarily, but I can feel them. I'll tell you all about my past but even _I _don't know it all."

"Fair enough," Alice said, smiling.

I opened my mouth to speak just as the sounds of approaching footsteps was heard coming up the wooded trail. The wind blew with us but before too long I could smell Carlisle and Esme, just before they jogged into the field to join us. I smiled at the opportunity to meet the man who started it all.

He and Esme smiled as they approached. "Hello! Sorry we're a bit late. I'm glad you've given us this chance to know you better," Carlisle said.

"Of course! I'm honored to meet a vegetarian vampire, I assure you your family is as fascinating to me as I am to you. I look forward to spending time getting to know you all as well." I reached forward to shake his hand and Esme's as well, but she pulled me into a light hug instead. It was surprising, but not unpleasant.

Carlisle smiled at me and said, "I'll warn you up front, I have a powerful curiosity, please tell me if my questions become to personal or pressing."

I grinned at the man, liking him already. "I'm sure that won't be an issue. I was just about to tell the others what I know of my past, if you'd care to join us."

"Of course!" Esme looked truly honored.

I leaned back against Emmett's jeep and ran a hand through my hair. Alice moved to stand beside me and I smiled at her then began. "Well... I suppose I should give you a time frame first, or at least as best I can. I don't know exact numbers, but I can tell you first off that there is a massive chunk of history missing from the world's knowledge. I come from a time when the world was joined as one place. One religion, one kingdom, one economy, multiple races but we treated each other as brothers and sisters. It was a utopia and it existed for thousands and thousands of years. If I had to guess I would say it was maybe... fifteen thousand years before the creation of Ancient Greece. Possibly more."

"And you lived back then?" Carlisle asked.

"Dear, don't interupt." Esme chided lightly.

I laughed and said, "No, please do! If something is unclear please, all of you, feel free to inquire away. I'm likely to leave out details without it. To answer your question, Carlisle, I did not just live I this time," I paused, gauging my words before I said them. "I... ruled. I was the Queen over everything else." Sadness radiated throughout me. Even if I hardly remembered life then or my duties or those I knew other than Mavrik, I know I had loved my people and my land dearly, and they had loved me. I know that the world was prosperous and beautiful. I know I missed it all terribly as well.

"You were Queen of the entire world?" Emmett asked, awed.

I nodded slowly. "Yes. I was. It was a wonderful time. All races and species, humans and animals, werecreatures and elves and pixies and trolls and my beloved dragons. They weren't just myth, they were real. We all interacted as one. The world held perfect balance, not a hair out of place. I kept the peace, keeping the humans in their place and the dragons under control and the markets flowing. There were no wars or famine, no droughts. The gods were happy and the people were happy. Everything was perfect."

"What happened?" Edward asked, muted.

I looked each of them in the eye and carefully said, "Vampires happened."

They all stiffened.

"To this day I don't know where they came from or who made them. I'd hazard a guess and say they were a god's creation gone wrong, or the manifestation of an evil spirit. All I know is one day we were at peace and the next my beautiful unified world was fragmented and battling vampires as well as others for land and food and soldiers. The elves and other fairy folk disappeared, either killed off or fled from the tragedies of the human world. Vampires hunted dragons because their blood strengthened them to an almost indestructible state. Only the oldest dragons and myself were able to kill them. The dragons themselves were going wild and they left their peaceful states and began to ravage the human world for food and revenge. Everyone was at war with every, and I tried to fix everything at the same time. My grip was slipping slowly but surely, it was impossible for me to hold onto them all. To fight the vampires and reign in the dragons and placate the humans.

"The vampires destroyed everything," I looked up with tear-filled eyes. "They pillaged and marauded and killed for sport. They killed my beloved subjects and my beloved dragons like they were cattle. And I've never loathed anything more than I loathe vampires," my voice came out as a growl as my demiform clawed to get out. I took a deep breath to calm down and sank into the vehicles side as my strength washed away with my anger. "Finally, I came to the realization that if the world was going to survive, even to become a shadow of what it once was, there could be no dragons. There could be no me, not in that time period. It... it get's fuzzy there. I don't remember much, if anything, except for a long unimaginable darkness. Then Mav and I woke up in a cave in the cliffs of northern France. We roamed all over the world, trying to regain our memories and learn our purpose.

"There is still so much we don't know. There are times when we feel like the barrier between our now and our past is at it's thinnest, ready to break. We've been to places that call to our souls and make us feel things. But there's still something _missing_," I said, frustrated. "We think... we _know_ it has something to do with you and the wolves at La Push. That's why I went there and stayed with them. The cliffs there hold a secret, as do the mountains that surround us here. There's strong magic there. There's strong magic with the wolves too. And then there's you." I looked up at them once again, boring my electric blue gaze into their amber eyes. "There's something... _key_ about you, you're more important to the balance of the world than you could possibly know. I just don't know what that is just yet," I shrugged, falling into silence.

Such silence persisted for nearly ten minutes while they digested everything. Alice was the first to speak, saying, "Well, I can understand why you said you hated vampires when we first met at the boundary."

I just nodded.

"The world was really perfect?" Carlisle asked. "Harmonious and peaceful."

I inhaled and exhaled deeply. It pained me deep in my gut to speak of such things. "It was amazing," I said simply. "You can't even fathom it. There were no murders or robberies. Everyone prospered and there was no hate. It was everything anyone could ever dream of."

"And vampires destroyed it all." Edward did not ask, simply stated.

I nodded.

"That's so terrible," Esme said, head hung in shame. "I've never felt so... dirty," she rubbed her arms in guilt.

I forced a small smile onto my face. "Hey, don't talk like that. Back then, that was awful. I admit, it was the worst crime ever committed. But you seven are so amazingly different and wonderful. You saw your nature and you cared enough to go against your very make to be better. You became caring and loving. You are nothing like them, and if _I_ don't hold you responsible, you shouldn't even consider blaming yourself."

Esme smiled at my words, seeming genuinely cheered. "That's wonderful for you to say." She laughed a little. "I feel as though I should bow or kneel or something, to be speaking to someone as important as yourself. I am humbled."

I waved her off and said, "Don't be silly. Like I said, I am only a former shell of myself. I may be the same body, but I am not the same person. I'm not a Queen of anything... that world doesn't exist anymore." I smiled, sadly. No wonder I never talked about this, it hurt so bad.

Emmett, trying to lighten the mood as per usual, said, "Well, you've told us who you are and who you were, but you haven't told us _what_ you are. I'm still curious, y'know!" He offered a weak grin which I graciously accepted.

"Right! That's what we're here for, isn't it?" I smiled and said, "You guys are in for the shock of your life. Did you find the thought of dragons hard to believe?"

Carlisle smiled a bit guiltily. "I like to see before I believe."

"Well said!" I grinned and stepped back. "This is human me," I pointed to myself then pulled off my hoodie to reveal the tank top I wore underneath, with wing slits cut in already. I smiled wolfishly before closing my eyes and pulling my demiform over myself. I heard their collective gasps and I opened my eyes to see my snow white hair swirling around my face. My skin was pale and peppered with tiny white scales. My finger nails had grown into claws and my wings were folded neatly against my back. I smiled at them, Alice in particular who was watching me in absolute awe, before fanning my wings out to their full width.

"Wow," Alice murmured, taking a step forward.

I smiled as she approached and extended a wing forward so that she could feel it. "So smooth... and warm!" She walked even closer and ran a hand over my heated and scaled skin.

"This is my demiform," I smiled as the rest of them stepped forward to examine my body.

"Demi?" Carlisle asked, a knowing glint in his eyes.

I beamed. "You all might want to wake a few steps back." They quickly back stepped and I surged my wings up and downward in one powerful stroke, zooming into the sky. I spiraled up and up until they were but specks beneath me, then arched my body and tucked my wings against my back, curving into a steep dive towards the ground. A thousand feet... nine hundred... five hundred... one hundred. I felt the fire building in the pit of my stomach, ready to explode, held dormant for so long and begging me to burst forth. With a happy shout-turned-roar I let my skin explode outward. My wings grew another twenty or so feet on each side, my scales grew and hardened even more, my whole body took on a lizard-like appearance and with a jet of flame shot from my open maw, I swooped out of my dive and landed before them as a forty foot long dragon, glistening a pearly, iridescent white color.

Dragons were naturally very proud creatures and I was no exception. I arched my neck and puffed out my chest, raising a dainty clawed foot before me as I examined them. I rotated my head and stretched my wings, chuckling deep in my gut. "Oh, _gods_, it feels good to be back in this skin." I said in English, my voice deep like a mature woman's voice, sultry and rich and decadent. It still rasped like I smoke a pack a day, and I loved it. Even for a dragon, this body was beautiful and sexy and dammit it I didn't know it. I bent forward and stretched out my spine like a cat. My head itself was half as big as Emmett's body and I smiled down at them through slitted eyes which happened to be a ridiculously vibrant shade of electric blue. I laughed at their dropped jaws.

"So, what do you think?" I laid down, crossing one elegant leg over the other.

Once more Alice was the first to approach me, which tickled me right down to my core. "What do we think? What do _I_ think?" She asked, incredulous. "I think you are the most fantastic, wonderful, beautiful creature I've ever seen."

"Aw, shucks," I chuckled lightly, bending my head so I could look at her eye to eyes. I turned to Emmett and said, "The reason I was able to abate Rosalie's thirst is because, as a dragon, I am a master of fire and your thirst is simply and extension of that." I paused, thinking hard enough that my head began to ache, then said, "I think... you know I think whatever magic that took away the dragons and kept me dormant is the same that cursed vampires with a painful thirst. Something about drinking dragon's blood, their life fire, and that's why it burns when your thirsty." I shook my head a bit, trying to rid myself of the ache. "See, things come in bits and pieces like that." And things already felt looser with Alice at my side.

"This is... amazing," Carlisle said, eying me but not approaching as Alice had.

"I'm glad your approve. I can fly and I have control over fire in any form, I can sense precious gems and metals no matter where they are. I can commend other animals to do my bidding if I so choose. I can fly for hours and incredible speeds without tiring. I do not age. I can breath fire and ice and even acid. I receive prophecies from time to time. I'm wound very tightly with the universe and I can feel it as it's will ebbs and flows. And what's best of all, though I've never done it," I grinned, "is that I can pass on this dracoism as easily as you pass on your vampirism."

Carlisle blinked rapidly in astonishment. "You can turn others into dragons? And they will be just like you?"

"Oh heavens no, not just like me. I was not a turned dragon, you see, I was the original hybrid. I was born of a dragon and sorceress eons and eons before the Final War, on order of the gods themselves. I was given my gifts and size and strength on special order. Any person I would pass on these gifts to would be smaller and less powerful. They would only be able to breath fire and they wouldn't have a demiform."

"How?" Carlisle asked.

"Another thing that must have popped up while I was hibernating is the limitations of dragon's blood. Before dragon's blood would strengthen anything it touched. Now, dragon's blood forcibly taken is a curse of a long and painful death but dragon's blood freely given is a blessing beyond what many could imagine. Immortality, luck, magic, and if I would so choose, the ability to become a dragon themselves."

"That is wicked awesome!" Emmett grinned. "You were right Bella, I never would have guessed this, not in a million years."

I smiled, revealing eight inch long fangs. "I told you so." I turned back to Alice who still stood beside me, running a hand over my scales. "So, wanna go for a ride?"

She looked up at my, shock in her eyes. "You mean like... a flight-ride? On you? Really?"

I laughed. "Yes really! If you thought your fancy cars were fast, you haven't seen anything yet."

She gasped, "Oh yes, please!"

I laughed and bent down as close to the ground as I could. "Alright then, hop aboard! Just behind the shoulder blades, there you go, hold on tight to a spike of your choosing. No seat belts on this ride, I'm afraid."

Alice sat on my back, dwarfed by my immense size and grinning from ear to ear. "Ready!" She called out.

"Well then, m'lady, prepare for take off!" I launched my wings up then in a massive down stroke accompanied by a few strides of my long legs, leaped into the air and we were off. We gained altitude rapidly and I heard Alice screaming her delight from my back. I spiraled upwards in a tight corkscrew before finally reaching the altitude I wanted then evened out and turned in a wide sweeping bank to the right, soaring over the forest. I could still see her family in the meadow thousands of feet below us, staring at us with awe. I turned and banked left then turned by head to the side so I could look back at her. Alice's face was one of complete rapture and I smirked.

"Alright, you ready for some real speed?"

She bobbed her head excitedly and I turned back, calling, "Alright then! Ready, here we go!"

My legs tucked up underneath us and I held my tail pin-straight out behind us, streamlining myself. My wings drove up and forward then down and back a few times until we were hurtling through the air so fast the world around us nearly seemed to blue, and for a dragon and a vampire to see things as a blur, that was really freaking fast. We flew parallel to the ground and it wasn't ten seconds before the meadow was completely out of sight, having disappeared over the horizon. My muscles ached and burned and I loved it. Alice's laughter told me that she loved it, too.

It occurred to me rather quickly that there was a building energy in my stomach, at the center of the magic held deep in my frame. I felt as if the energy within me was growing tenser and tenser, building and building. My muscles twitched and my breathing sped. I got the eery feeling that I just _had_ to release it somehow, but I didn't know how! I slowed my speed just so that I could turn back to view my rider without the change of angle and balance sending us spiraling towards the ground. My head turned and my eyes searched for hers and when they locked I felt an impact jar within me. It crashed and shook and buzzed down to the marrow in my bones and I felt my magic explode within me like a fiery wave. I gasped, as did Alice, and I knew she must have felt something too. With the energy still buzzing through my slitted ears I slowed. We had long ago passed into Canada air space I greatly reduced the pace to a more leisurely speed, thoughts running at a mile a minute. _What just happened?_ My instincts told me it was important and special but I was in no mood to speculate. For now I just wanted to land and get back into my human form so I could talk to Alice in a more familiar way. I turned us back towards the way we came and lazily rose and dove, spiraled and corkscrewed, looped through the air, and aerial master of flight.

When the meadow was pack in our line of sight I raised us and extra few hundred feet then tucked my wings to my side and dived straight down, pulling out at the last second, snapping my wings out wide. The wind roared against them, tried to tear me apart, but I was just too strong. We landed light as a feather directly before her still wide-eyed family. Alice's laughter hadn't stopped the whole entire time. I looked back to see her running her hands through her hair, trying to smooth it's windswept appearance.

"Good luck with that," I smirked at her halfheartedly, mind still occupied. "There's a reason dragons have scales, and that's one of them."

"That was the most fantastic, exhilarating thing I've ever done," she said, breathless even though she didn't technically need to breath.

I laughed, "I'm glad you enjoyed it." She slid off my back and I closed my eyes, pulling my massive scaled body within myself so that my human skin could take back control. I opened my eyes once more to see shock and awe displayed before me. "You'll get used to it," I shrugged.

"How many people could you carry at once, Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm not sure, I don't think I flew with people very often back in the old days, and I've only taken _that_ form perhaps a dozen times since I woke back up. The wolves at La Push haven't even seen it."

Esme frowned, "Well, we're honored Bella, but why not? You've lived with them for so long, you treat them as family, right?"

I nodded. "I do but... see, this is another one of those things. My third form is important to the universe, it's important to how things play out. I need to be careful with it, you know? The fewer people who know who and what I am, the less chance there is that complications will arise. I told you all because, quite frankly, you're more important."

"How so?" Jasper asked.

"Well, I feel like there is a lot of emphasis on vampires working together with dragons. I may only be half and half, but I'm the Queen of Dragons as well, and _that_ is a title I will never relinquish."

"But... didn't you say there weren't any dragons left?" Edward asked.

I nodded once more. "Yes, currently I am the only one. But they're still out there, somewhere. I can feel it, I just don't know how to find them, or resurrect them, or whatever." I turned to Alice. "That's where you come in."

"Me?" She asked, bewildered.

"Yes. I don't know why but you make it easier for me to connect with who I was all those centuries ago, and that is key. I don't know how or why, but if you're willing, I'd like to look further into it."

"Of course," she answered immediately. "I'll do anything to help make up for the wrong doings of my ancestors."

"We all will," Esme said. "Do you have some kind of a plan, Bella?"

I sighed sheepishly. "No. I've always felt that I didn't know enough to move forward with anything. Now though, if Alice can help me find the rest of myself, I can make some progress."

"What is it you're hoping to accomplish? Do you want to restore your Utopia?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't think the world _can_ be restored to that kind of peace. Humans are too over populated, there's not enough green space left. But I want to start taking steps in the right directions. I want to find my dragons again and I want to find the elves and giants and goblins and all the other fay folk. The sooner they return to the world, even in secret, the closer we will come to balance once again." I spoke my thought train out loud, hardly aware I had done so until the Cullens started nodding.

"Well, count me in!" Emmett boomed. "I'm sure as hell down for finding some dragons!"

"Aren't your worried about a repeat of events, though?" Edward asked. "If there are dragons again and vampires again, surely it's possible that another war will spark."

My brows furrowed in anger, not at him, simply at my memory of the past. "Never. I refuse to allow that to happen. We were unprepared then and vampires have grown weaker since your creation. If any vampires try to fight my dragons again they will perish."

"You mean to eradicate vampires, then?" Jasper asked coolly. I examined him, searching for a hint of malice or anger, but I fond none. It was merely a question.

"No. I do not, in fact. As much as the majority deserve to burn for a thousand years, the minority," I gestured to the Cullens, "gives me hope that perhaps an alternative can be found. Are there others like you?" I asked.

"A few," Carlisle stated. "But we are a vast minority. Only one in a hundred vampires, or so we think for as close as we can guess, hunts as we do. And, I'll admit, we have friends on both sides."

I regarded him levelly and said, "Were I you, I would call your friends on the other side and implore them to change their dietary needs. Else wise, things may become highly unpleasant for them in the near future."

He smiled tightly. "I will make all necessary calls."

"Good," I smiled. "You and your family truly are a shining beacon of hope in a sea of darkness. But first I have may things I need to accomplish. Things will likely move quickly now that we have nudged them into action, and issues of this magnitude have the tendency to snowball."

"Just let us know what you need us to do and we'll do it," Emmett said. "We are officially on Team Dragon, you can count on us!"

I grinned. "It makes me very, very happy to hear you say that. For now, though," I turned to Alice, "If you could accompany me? I believe we have some matters to discuss."

Alice smiled, "Of course!" I slid into my demiform as she turned to her family and said, "I'll catch up with you all later."

"Alright Alice," Esme said with a smile and a wave.

I turned to Mavrik and asked, "Do you wanna stay here or go with them?"

_I'll go with them, I have a feeling you'll be flying more and anyways I wanted to help Seth train today. Now seems like a good time._

I shrugged, "Alrighty then. Have fun, I'll see you when I get home."

"I can drop him off at the border," Emmett said and I smiled my thanks. Carlisle and Esme loaded into Edward's Volvo while Mav hopped up beside Emmett in his jeep and the family drove away, out of sight.

The second they were out of hearing range Alice turned to me and asked, "So what _was_ that, during the flight? Does that normally happen?"

I grimaced and shook my head. "Nope, not usually. What did you feel?"

"Well, it was like I could feel the energy moving inside of you, and it kept getting stronger and stronger than the it practically exploded through me and I've been... buzzing ever since." I knew her words to be true, not that I really doubted them anyways, by seeing the light in her eyes.

I nodded. "So not much different from me, then. No, I have no idea what that was or what caused it or what the ramifications will be. Some of the hazards of hanging around new dragons though, I suppose."

Alice laughed. "I don't mind, I'm still alive anyways so no big deal." Alice punched me jokingly in the shoulder and the second her skin touched mine a jolt shocked through my body. She gasped as well and I knew once again she had felt it to. "Okay, now what was that?"

My brow furrowed. "I still don't know. Here, give me your hand." I extended my own palm, perplexed and watched as she laid her hand in mine. I gasped once more as the sensation flared back to life, at first a spark then a stream of electricity circuiting through both our bodies then finally blooming and leveling out as a humming warmth running through our bodies, head to toe. My eyes lidded and I relaxed almost to the point of collapsing. Alice herself did stumble forward and I snapped out of my trance to catch her before she hit the ground. As soon as the link was severed we blinked out of the trance. I quickly righted her before the new spark could grow. For reasons I didn't really understand heat flooded into my cheeks and I blushed.

"That was... umm," Alice said, still a little woozy. "I don't understand..."

"Me either," I said, brows furrowing in deep confusion. I didn't understand _any_ of his, but the more time I spent with Alice the more powerful I felt and now there was this business with the touching and quite frankly I just wanted answers. Always, why was being this close to her making me blush? She still stood in the circle of my arms and I stepped back a bit. "Um, sorry," I said weakly, not knowing what else to do and feeling suddenly very awkward.

Luckily for me, though, Alice had come to once more and had regained her usually bubbly personality. "Don't worry about it! I normally have that effect on people, they just can't control themselves around me." She said sarcastically, flipping her hair.

I laughed. "Whatever you say, Alice. Now come on, I want to show you something... Um." I looked down at my bare arms then sighed and grabbed my jacket from where I had dumped it on the ground. I tore holes where my wings would have to poke through then shifted back to human form and slid it on. "Sorry, but if they happens while I'm flying I'll probably fly us right into a mountain side."

Alice grinned devilishly. "Sorry my touch intoxicates you so."

I rolled my eyes, grumbling about cocky vampires and pulled my demiform over myself once more. "Come on then, we're going bridal style. My dragon form would be too noticeable where we're going."

"And where would that be?" She asked as I dipped down and scooped her up into my now covered arms. She laughed and wrapped her arms around my neck though my hair kept our skin from touching.

"Olympic National Park," I grinned, shooting upward and into the air, laughing at the sound of Alice's own delighted laughter.

It was indeed a short flight. My reptilian side could pick up heat signatures if I focused it correctly and when I knew there to be no humans in the area I would dive down just above the tree tops and Alice would hold out her hands and brush against the tops of the pines. When we passed over roads or streets I would angle ourselves towards the clouds and up we would shoot to weave in and out between them. We soared through the sheet of low hanging nimbus clouds and broke above into a world a fluffy white and orange and pink clouds, and Alice sparkled like a diamond in my arms. She looked up at me, worry flashing over her face as if I would be afraid or disgusted, but I just smiled at her. I didn't mind at all. She looked beautiful. The light reflected from her skin and only my budding scales, coloring me with rainbows of light.

I pointed up ahead where Mt. Olympus peaked through the clouds. It was barely snow-capped but it's peak was rocky and craggy and full of caves. I scanned the mountain side I wanted for tourists and climbers but found none and so I swooped in. I landed lightly right before a dark and yawning cave, hidden from easy view by a shelf of rock long slid down from a higher place on the peak. I set Alice down in front of it before alighting myself, simply tucking my wings back against my body instead of completely shifting to my human form.

"I found this place decades ago. It's one of dozens that have always called out to me, the second closest besides one at La Push, but I thought you might not be received to kindly there. I've always felt that there was something important here but I've never been able to figure it out. I thought maybe, with you here, I'd be able to get somewhere. Wanna go in?" I asked her.

"Sure!" She grinned.

We descended in. I had no trouble seeing, really, but even if I had been blind I would have been able to find my way through. The dragon in me knew the way and I just sat back and gave it free rein. We wound down and down, further into the mountain. The farther in we went, instead of the cave growing smaller it got bigger. The original tunnel, small-ish and pockmarked with rockfalls, was now a cavern dripping with stalactites and stalagmites. Light radiated from miniscule crystals that had grown on the walls, filtered in all the way from the surface world. I led on as Alice gaped at the surroundings. I too was still slightly awed despite having been here a hundred times. Finally we reached the end of the tunnel and came to rest in a bowl-like depression. It was smooth and indented into the ground and free of any dust, rock, or protrusions. I sat there, cross-legged, and closed my eyes.

"Can you feel it?" I asked. The energy of the place radiated through the very ground, seeped into the walls, and called to me. It hummed through my ears like sweet music.

"I- I'm not sure." Alice stuttered. "I feel like there's something... here, almost, except I don't know if I'm feeling it or if I just feel you feeling it. It's like before when you took me flying and I felt the energy in you before I felt it in me."

"Hmm..." Was all I could say. I lay my hand palm down on the ground and moved it from side to side, trying to find the place where the energy was strongest. Eventually I turned to Alice and said, "I want to try something. I'm going to try and push my energy into whatever this source is, alright? Like I did to you, but I think I'm going to need your help." I shed my jacket. "Come put your hand on my shoulder."

She did as I asked, nearly bouncing with excitement. I stifled my gasp as the electricity began to flow through me once more. When it had become the billowing, lulling warmth I closed my eyes and focused on ranging my mind outward. I tried to sense whatever the source of power was within the earth but to my surprise I saw two glowing balls of energy. One of which was Alice, one of which was deep below our feet. I watched Alice with fascination as I could see the energy flowing between us like an unbroken electric current. It congregated in our hearts and flowed outward, circulating through our entire bodies and melding at our hands to pass over into the other person and circle all over again. Pulling myself away from my examination and setting myself to the task at hand, I focused down at the glowing energy below us.

**A/N: Wooshie wooshie wooshie! Who's pumped for the next chapter? Now that I'm back in town updates will be more regular again ^-^ I wonder what's happening to Alice and Bella! I wonder what's glowing down beneath them! I wonder what will happen! What do you all think? Like always, I'm open to questions, comments, and concerns! :D I love you all!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Happy Update Friday, e'erbody! :D Enjoy!**

"I can see it," I murmured. "close your eyes and focus on the earth. Can you see it too?"

"I can't see it... but I can- I can feel it, I suppose. I know it's there. What do you want me to do?"

"Focus on the energy passing between us, then try and turn it into the earth and draw it up. At least, that's what I'm going to do."

"Aye-aye," she murmured. I watched in my mind's eye as she focused for a moment, then watched in wonder as the glowing energy within her began to spiral down into the ground. I added my own and reached for the source within the earth. I wrapped my magic around it and began tugging, a slow and steady pull. Eventually I sensed it beginning to rise up towards us and my excitement mounted. It was finally happening! Ten feet to go... then five... one foot... two inches... The orb of energy finally breached the surface and like a flash of lightening dissipated. I felt a hot, arid burst of air blow against my face as it rush outward.

Gasping at the ancient feel of the energy I opened my eyes and looked down, too stunned to make another noise. Even in my wildest dreams I had only ever expected some old relic or artifact, but instead before me sat the most beautiful sight I could remember seeing: a clutch of three dragon eggs.

"No way..." My mind immediately flew to the cliffs of La Push and the similar energy I had felt there. Could there really be eggs stashed all over the world in this form? No matter, I had to focus on the here and now. I leaned in and examined each egg thoroughly. There were three of them, one was a deep ebony black, one an iridescent silver color, and another was a gleaming golden-bronze. All three held the classic egg shape and were about the size of a football, though the black was the smallest bit bigger and the silver the smallest bit smaller. Their colors were swirled in with a hundred different shades of their overall hue. They looked perfectly smooth and when I reached out to touch one they felt like silk. I turned back to Alice with tears in my eyes and saw her just as awestruck as I was.

I leaped to my feet and gathered the small pixie-like vampire in my arms and held her tight, sobbing my joy. "Thank you, oh gods, _thank you_! I never would have been able to find them without your help. Oh, Divines above, you don't know how much this means, I'll never _ever_ be able to repay you for this as long as I live!" I held her as tight as my arms would allow and even swung her about once or twice.

She laughed and clung right back to me. I set her down and released her, blushing once more. She just beamed up at me, tears shining in her eyes as well even though I knew they would never be able to fall. "You're welcome, though I feel like I should be thanking you, to have put me in a situation to do and _see_ something like this is just... There are no words for the amazement you've made me feel today." She stepped forward into another embrace, this one considerably more tender than the last, lacking the fervent excitement and holding more wonderment and gratitude and genuine caring.

"I'm glad," I said, holding the small vampire to me and allowing my breath to hitch as the electric spark kindled once more. I don't know how long we stood there for, pushing joy and excitement and wonderment through the link our bodies formed. I still didn't understand it, but I doubted I would ever be able to see it as a bad thing. In fact, if I thought about it, I thought perhaps I was coming to enjoy it.

Eventually we did step back and I took the jacket from my body and placed the three eggs gently inside it, tying them up inside and holding the bundle gently in my arms. "We should get going back, I think. I want to start incubating these eggs as soon as possible."

"Of course," Alice said, excited. We turned and jogged back to the entrance of the cave. "Out of curiosity, how do you do that?"

I grinned at her curiosity, excited to be able to talk about my precious dragons to any extent. "Well, first I'll need to make a nest we called a Forge back in the old days. It's made of hard stones that retain heat, and it's kind of like an oven, or a little circular stone hut. I'll set the eggs on a base of stones and make a dome over top of them. Then, when the construction is done I'll have to take my third form and breath fire on them for as long as I can. The dome will retain heat when I have to do things like sleep and eat or, in my special case, go to school."

Alice looked fascinated. "How long do you think it will take for the eggs to hatch?" We emerged out into the fresh air once more, but to my surprise, the sun was now setting in the western sky. "Wow," Alice said, pulling out her cell phone to double check the time. "We were in there for nearly twelve hours! How could that possibly be?"

I just shrugged. "I'm not sure, both for the time and the hatch date, " I said as I pushed off the ground and launched us into the air. I chose to ignore the rapid movement of time, less I give myself a migrane. "These eggs actually look pretty far along. Dragons eggs start out about the size of softballs and grow as they are incubated, as the hatchling inside grows bigger. They'll hatch when they are perhaps the size of a basketball. The heat breathed onto them convert directly into the energy they use for growth, so the longer I can incubate them the sooner they'll hatch."

"Oh, that makes sense," she yelled against the wind now. "Any idea why they were buried in the first place? What happened to their mother?"

I frowned, having considered that myself. "It's nearly impossible to tell. If I had to guess I'd say it's all tied into what happened to the Dragons as a whole, why they all disappeared. I've come across other sites like this one in my years traveling, they could be all over the world. Maybe the dragons have all been hidden within the earth, hibernating and waiting for my return."

"All as eggs?" Alice frowned.

"Maybe, maybe not." I thought back to the cliffs at La Push. That presence there was similar but also distinctly different. It felt bigger, older. I couldn't help but hope that maybe... I shook the thought from my head. "I hope not, but for now I'm just going to focus on these three eggs. Dragon hatchlings are an enormous burden to care for. They eat voraciously, they fly, they breath fire, they have razor sharp teeth and claws. It's a full time job caring for one, let alone three. Five is the maximum clutch ever lain and that's with the five babies under the careful supervision of a dam and sire, as well as their family group if they live in a Clan."

"So how are you going to manage?"

I sighed, mulling it over. "I'm not sure... I don't know. I've thought about what I would do if I ever found the dragons again, and I had this crazy idea of making like, a ranch or some safe place the dragons could grow, but I wouldn't even know where to start." So maybe that wasn't the whole truth of it. It was a legitimate goal of mine. In my mine I saw tall, craggy peaks with dragons swirling through the air and hatchlings tussling on the ground. I saw fields of cattle and sheep, and a Forge where I could make armor for my dragons as well as incubate new eggs, and I saw Mav with a pack of wolves and tiny pups running amuck. Most of all I saw a castle, stone with tall, proud spires reaching into the sky. It was enshrouded with trees and mist and there was a lake and rivers and it was everything the world used to be. But I reminded myself that it was only a dream. The humans had taken over and my dragons were gone. I looked down to Alice in my arms, who happened to be watching me with keen interest, and the eggs in her arms. _Well, they're not gone anymore. I found them._ The thought filled my gut with glee.

I was growing used to the warmth in my gut from my contact with Alice. It wasn't as much of a surprise now and I was able to function despite it.

"That was beautiful," Alice said quietly.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"The vision I just saw. With the castle and the dragons and the wolves. Are you going to build it?" She asked keenly.

I sighed. "I want to. But I can't, I don't have the funds or the land." I knew in my old life that I had amassed vast hordes of gems and gold (hello, part dragon here) but they had long ago been lost to time.

Alice, to my surprise, just grinned up at me. "Silly Bella. You're speaking to a Cullen here. Don't you worry a scale on your pretty little wings about inconsequential things like money! We'll get started as soon as we get back!"

I looked down at her through furrowed brows. "Alice, I'm not going to let your family spend that much money on me! That's absurd! Buying as much land as we'd need along would cost upwards of a million dollars, and then to build the structures, especially a _castle_, would take more millions. No, that is ridiculous. Absolutely not."

She just smiled at me and turned away to look at the landscape as we flew over it.

"You're not listening to a word I say, are you?"

Silence.

"Fantastic," I rolled my eyes and put on an extra burst of speed. I wanted to get these eggs moving along as quickly as possible.

The sky was a deep ruby-indigo color when we landed back at the Cullen abode, stars twinkling boldly in the cloudless sky. Alice was still wide-eyed and raving about the beauty of flying at night and I just smiled down at her, glad that she had enjoyed it. My attention was diverted to house that sat on the property Alice had directed me to. It was very colonial, white and boxy but extremely elegant. As quickly as I set us down the other six Cullens blurred onto the lawn.

"It's about time!" Emmett boomed. "What the hell kept you two for so long?"

Alice just smiled and handed the still covered bundle of eggs to me, which I cradled close to me as we walked up to her family. "Well, since you asked so nicely," I joked, beginning to unwrap the sleeves of my hoodie. When they fell away the other six vampires gasped and ogled.

"Bella, are those..?"

I smiled and nodded, "Dragon eggs. We found them buried on Mt. Olympus southeast of here. I've sensed sites like the one where these were buried before, but I've never had the power to bring them forward before. With Alice helping me, though, we discovered them and brought them back."

"Now we need to incubate them!" Alice finished. "Also, Esme, we have some serious work to do! Bella has a little project for us I think you are going to _love_."

Esme's face brightened and she asked, "Really?"

I bristled. "No, Bella does not have a project for you! Bella even told Alice that she didn't feel comfortable with you spending any amount of money on her, but Alice chose not to listen." I growled at the small vampire.

"Bella will get over it!" Alice said, playing the vision over once more in her head.

Edward brightened and smiled, saying, "Wow, that looks amazing! When do we start?"

"What? Wait, hold on a second, don't I get a say in this?"

"Nope! It's getting built either way, you just need to accept that. If you don't agree, we'll build it ourselves and you'll have to make do with the results, _or_ you can just give in and have the ultimate say in everything and it will be built to perfection. Your choice," Alice spoke-sang.

I bristled again, glaring exasperatedly at the ebon-haired pixie before me. "You have got to be the most frustrating creature I've ever met," I said pointedly.

"Is that a yes?" Alice beamed.

I just sighed and slumped, letting my head fall forward. "Not... not necessarily..." But we all knew I wasn't going to win this war. Hat didn't mean I wasn't going to fight the battles anyways, though.

"Yay!" Alice squealed. "Oh, Esme, you're going to love this!"

"Will someone please fill the rest of us in?" For the first time I noticed that Rosalie was among us. The others looked equally surprised that she chose to speak at all, but recovered quickly.

"It's going to be fantastic!" Alice gushed then proceeded to drag Esme into the house, telling her family all about it, the land and the castle and the mountains and making plans for everything. The others 'ooh'ed and 'aah'ed as she spoke and asked for my preferences constantly. To be honest, a lot of good ideas were thrown out. Esme darted upstairs to grab a pen and a pad of paper whereas Edward dashed to his room and came back with a laptop, on which he began searching for plots of land available all over North America. I threw out my two cents often enough to give them something to work with through the night, until I finally called it quits and told them I really needed to get going home. A sad sigh escaped my lips, knowing what I would have to do once I got there.

I decided to take the eggs with me to show the boys and then build a Forge tomorrow. The Cullen's bid me goodbye with many a hug and excited grin, but before long I was back in the air, zooming towards La Push. I spotted a bonfire glowing on the cliffs and upon training my avian eyes there I found that it was indeed the pack. I dove down silently, tucking my wings to my back, hurtling towards them at breakneck speeds, a wolfish grin on my face. I pulled up and shot just over top of them, wings flared out. I heard a few manly shouts of surprise and a few not so manly shouts of fear accompanied by dozens of curses but most of it was drowned out my my cackling laughter. I banked gently back around and landed just inside the halo of light but off by their flames, still clutching my gut. I survey the scene with glee.

Sam seemed largely unruffled, just looked at me through narrowed eyes. Jacob and Leah had stood up on instinct but now, realizing it was only me, were cursing at me. Seth, Quil, and Embry clung to one another (I would wager they had been the source of the less than manly screams,) Jared and Colin were on the ground, having fallen down in their fright and Paul was full wolf , carefully picking his way out of an upturned picnic table he had crashed into and growling at me all the while. Mavrik was hot on my heels, loping into the light with a silly grin on his face. He gave no greeting, just ran right up to me and began furiously sniffing the bundle in my arms.

"Bella, what the hell?" Quil asked, his voice still shrill.

"Seriously!" Seth added in. "Uncool!"

I just snickered. "Look sharp boys, I've got a surprise for you!" My wide smile seemed to annul their anger and replaced with with curiosity. They all stood and moved closer to me as for the second time that day I reveal the eggs. They gleamed and shimmered in the firelight, seemingly drawing energy even from it's glare.

"Dude," Jacob said. "Are those eggs?"

"Dragon eggs!" I beamed. "Alice and I found them today on Mt. Olympus."

"Tch," Paul sneered and moved away to sit by the fire once more.

"What's your problem, Paul? This is awesome!" Jacob said, glaring at his pack mate.

"I don't want anything to do with the leeches, and if that little runt is mixed up in this, well, fine." Anger flared through my stomach as he insulted Alice, but confusion overruled it. Paul... wasn't angry. He was calm, maybe a bit put-off, but there was no rage. How odd.

I wasn't the only one to notice it, because Leah asked, "You feeling alright, Paul?"

He sighed. "Just dandy. We're being replaced by leeches, I'm peaches and cream here."

Jacob scoffed. "Don't be stupid Paul, we're not being replaced!" He looked to me with innocent eyes. "Isn't that right, Bella? We're your family, tell him."

I chewed my lip. "I could never replace you guys, you know that, and you'll always be my family." My tone wavered.

Sam froze and looked towards me through hard eyes. "Why do I get the feeling there's a 'but' following that sentence?" The rest of the pack looked at me with hurt and rejection on their faces, and Leah and Jake looked flat out betrayed.

"Bella, what's going on?" Jacob asked.

I sighed and moved to sit before the fire, nestling the eggs into the coals and channeling some of my energy into the flames so they would burn hotter and stronger. I was also stalling, but whatever. "I don't want you to think that I'm choosing the Cullens over you all, because I'm not. I'm not choosing either of you... but I _am_ leaving."

"What?" Seth asked, outraged.

The rest of the pack tried to throw in their two cents and I had to calm the clamor with a shout. "Listen! I can't raise three baby dragons here, alright? I just can't! It wouldn't work! I wouldn't be able to find enough food for them, or teach them to fly, or keep them from terrorizing the humans, or any of that!"

"So what are you going to do?" Surprising me yet again, Paul was the one who spoke in a calm voice.

I stuck my hand into the flames to readjust the silver egg, which was slipping out of the fire as the logs broke down, stalling once more. "I'm going to buy a tract of land up north and build a safe place for them. As the property is done or these eggs hatch I'll be leaving. You're all welcome to come and visit whenever you want, of course and I'll come back here as often as I can."

I tried to placate the angry and hurt frowns, but I don't think it did much. "And what do the Cullens have to do with this?" Sam asked.

I bit my lip, hoping they would leave the vampires out of the conversation. "They're... they're helping me build the ranch. They're funding it and getting it all put together."

Paul just shook his head then stood up and left. We watched him go.

"How much longer will you be here?" Jacob asked, distraught.

"I don't know. I need to build a nest to incubate these eggs and La Push is too populated for me to do it here. So... tonight."

"What, so a couple of rocks and vampires mean more to you than the families who have taken care of you and houses you for the past however many years!" Leah snapped and yelled.

I looked down at the ground and muttered. "Yes. I'm sorry, you know I love you all, but my dragons are the most important things in the world to me. Bringing them back is my purpose in life. I could never ask you to stop hunting vampires, could I? It's what you were made to do. I'm sorry."

Leah seethed and refused to look at me.

Seth stood and stepped forward and wrapped and arm around my shoulders. "I understand. I'll miss ya, Bells. Come bring those dragons back when they won't... burn and pillage and stuff, alright? I want to see them."

I smiled up at the young boy. "Of course. Thanks, Seth."

Slowly but surely the rest of the pack said their goodbyes. Jake and Sam walked me back to Jake's house to spend some more time with me while I gathered my few things.

"It was great getting to know you, Bella," Sam said, shaking my hand solemnly.

"You too, Sam. This isn't goodbye forever, though."

"Yeah, but it's not going to be the same after this," Jake said sadly, pulling me into a hug. "You're not a wolf girl anymore, despite what you say. You're a vamp girl."

I swatted him playfully on the arm, smiling up at the much taller boy. "Now, I'm flat out ashamed of you, Jacob Black. You should know better! I'm not a wolf girl or a vamp girl! I'm a Dragon girl."

Jake smirked down at me. "Whatever. You'll still be my pack sister, no matter what happens. You run into any trouble up North, you let me know, okay?"

I rolled my eyes but smiled all the same, grateful for the gesture. "Thanks, Jake." I pulled a note from my pocket. "Give this to Billy, will you? It's a thank you note for him, I don't want to wake him up."

Jake took it and said, "Sure thing, Bells. Sure you don't want to stay just one more night?"

I smiled sadly. "No can do, kiddo. I've got a lot of work to do."

"Alrighty." He sighed. "Bye, then."

I stepped out onto the porch. "Bye Jake." I stepped into one last hug before slipping into my Demiform and jumping into the air.

The Cullens were not surprised at all to see me once more at their front door. Alice had seen my decision to leave the Pack and insisted that I would stay with them until it was time to move north instead of just staying for a day until I found some alternate living arrangements. I was too tired to argue so I agreed easily and was easily led upstairs by Alice. A sudden wave of weariness washed over me from the day's events and I found my eyes closing. Alice handed me a bundle of clothes and pushed me towards a bathroom. I changed quickly and practically fell into the bed she offered to me. The last things I remembered before I fell asleep were the hot eggs curled into my abdomen as I curled around them and Alice's cool fingers running through my hair.

The next morning a slight shaking of my shoulder woke me up. My head was groggy and confused but everything came back to me soon enough. I leaped out of bed, startling Alice who didn't seem to have moved the entire night. I jogged over to where the three eggs sat upon a large pillow and examined them all once again, half expecting the previous day's explorations to have been a dream. Satisfied that this was indeed reality, I grinned.

"Good morning to you, too!" Alice said, joking.

I laughed a bit and said, "Sorry, I'm just so excited. What time is it?"

"Six fifty, we'll be leaving for school in about forty five minutes or so."

I wanted to grumble about her getting me up so early when all _I_ had to do was change my clothes and run my fingers through my hair, but that just meant more time with my eggs so I didn't complain... much. Esme called me down just as I finished changing, having cooked and elaborate breakfast that I tore into voraciously. I'd be the first to admit that yesterday's excitement, and the massive amounts of energy I expended both in transforming so often, flying so much, and the stunt with the eggs had left me hungry and sore, but mostly hungry. There were pancakes and eggs and bacon and sausage and oranges and I was in heaven. Alice came down the stairs and immediately laughed at me for eating like I did. In response I flashed her a quick glimpse of my middle finger and earned a light slap on the arm from Esme.

Before I knew it the rest of the Cullen kids came downstairs as well and whisked me off to school. My teachers all gave me stern glances and glares for my absence but I hardly paid them an ounce of attention. My mind was completely elsewhere, plotting out blueprints for the new ranch and daydreaming about hulking dragons soaring through the skies and little hatchlings scurrying about underfoot. I had also been wracking my brain, searching and searching for any memories as to what had happened to my treasure troves from so long ago. It wasn't until Alice dragged me to the lunchroom and shook me by the shoulders that I really snapped back into reality.

"Earth to Bella!" she called, waving a hand in front of my face.

"What? Oh, sorry Alice. What did you say?"

She rolled her eyes. "I _said_ that if you don't carry on a full conversation with me I'm going to take you on the longest shopping trip of your life."

I winced. "Sorry Alice, I guess my mind is just completely elsewhere. I'm sorry, I'll focus. What do you want to talk about?" I asked, swiping a bag of potato chips from the lunch line and following her to her family's table.

"I was wondering about the size you wanted your castle to be, actually." She grinned as I rolled my eyes. "Esme and I were discussing it last night while you were sleeping, she's already started the blueprints. She, Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie were going to head up to the property we found today after school and get started on it."

I blinked at her, jaw dropping. "But that's so soon!"

"We don't do anything half-ass, Bells!" Emmett boomed as we sat down. "Esme had a team out there, starting to plot and clear the land last night!"

"You guys are ridiculous," I grumbled.

"You still never answered my question," Alice said.

"I don't know! I can't remember my old castle, I know it was huge but I don't deserve anything like that anymore. As small as possible would be preferable."

Edward tapped his chin, thoughtful. "How big to dragons get, Bella?"

I frowned, curious as to his change of topic. "Well, they never stop growing." In all honesty, I had no idea where this information was coming from. It was like I had no conscious knowledge of it, but then if the question is put to me, the answer just pours out. "Their growth is extremely rapid from the time they are born until about a year or two after hatching. From that time they'll grow from the size of a small dog to about twenty feet long from nose to tail, but that depends on species too. After that, their rate of growth slows down gradually. After a decade they would be about thirty feet, after a century they might be fifty, after two they might be fifty five." I paused, rubbing my temples. "I have fuzzy memories of one dragon who was almost two hundred feet long. He was massive, the oldest dragon I knew."

Edward looked impressed. "Can they even fly at that size?"

I smiled. "Oh yeah. Their wings are incredibly massive at that point, and their weight is ridiculously low. Their bones are hollow and their scales are made of a material you aren't familiar with in this day and age, hard as diamonds but light as feathers."

"How common were dragons of that size?" He asked, still apparently intrigued.

"Well, there's a difference between how many there were and how often you saw them. Dragons that old had usually amassed vast territories and hordes and rarely left their caves except to eat, which they did not need to do but once every two months or so, depending on how much they ate at the time. There were quite a few, as nothing can really take down a dragon of that size, but you rarely saw them because they were so reclusive."

He tapped his chin once more before turning to his smaller sister. "Well Alice, I suppose we will need to make the main hall big enough to house, what would you say, ten dragons of that size? We can base the rest of the scale on that."

My jaw dropped. "No, no, no, _no_! I absolutely forbid that! You Cullens are _insane!_"

I was apparently no longer part of this conversation, though, because the talk quickly moved on to the number of bedrooms that would be built. When I had first envisioned my castle sure it had been a massive structure, but that was only a daydream! All I really desired was a small stone house, barely more than a cottage! But according to these infuriating vampires, I was to have gardens and courtyards and mess hall and a library and even an astronomy tower, not to mention a spiraling rookery that younger dragons could perch in and converse as well as sleep in. Emmett wanted to build a moat, but I drew the line there.

"Stop fretting, Bella!" Alice rolled her eyes and dug around in her purse before pulling out three ticket stubs. She waved them in front of my face and said, "You're forgetting something here."

"Are those... lottery tickets?" I asked, trying to focus on them then glaring at Alice when I finally did. "Please don't tell me-"

"Oh, shut _up_!" Rosalie rolled her eyes. "You always go on about how precious your dragons are to you, well then why wouldn't you want them to have the best of everything! It's not like we need the money anyways so quit your bitching, grow some lady balls, and _assist_ us or we're going to paint your room neon orange."

I cringed and finally gave in.

Throughout the rest of my classes I had with the Cullens they were continuously scribbling down plans and blueprints, slipping them to me for approval. I made slight adjustments here and there, but overall we actually got a surprising amount of work done. We settled on sixty rooms, half bedrooms and half utility, in the castle which I did initially object to until Alice started making obscure references about all Queens having a large court. I ended up ignoring that for my own mental benefit. Like Rosalie had said, they were going to do this one way or another. There would be a stable connected to the castle as well as a barn for rearing livestock. There would be a large kitchen and the Great Hall would be able to house five hundred people and ten large dragons if the were floor bound, not to mention the reinforced lumber beams supporting the ceiling which could act as perches for smaller drakes. There would be towering spires and arching doorways and stone columns and everything else I had always dreamed of.

The second we stepped foot in the Cullen household after the day was over Alice and Edward had raced upstairs to update Esme, while I pulled Emmett aside for him to help me build the Forge. We drove his car deep into their property until we came to a small ravine the river had worn into the ground. I dubbed the stone good and strong and Emmett, like a kid in a candy shop, set to smashing big boulders into little boulders as easily as snapping a twig in your hands. We loaded his Jeep up with rocks and transported them back. I set the forge up across the river that flowed in their back yard, just in case the fire got out of control (which it hardly ever did in these kind of nesting situations,) so it wouldn't spread to their house. Emmett and Alice scoured the woods for long burning oaks and hot burning pines, bringing back log after log after log while I made a stone base. I had to choose rocks carefully to make sure it was as flat as possible for it to support the dome without any weak spots.

Slowly but surely I began to spiral the dome up until finally the low mound was done. The sticks had already been carefully arranged inside, as wells as the eggs. There was a small entrance for me to load in more fuel and scoop ash out and a small hole up top to release smoke, but beyond that it was all stone. The mound itself only came up to my waist as a human, but that was all I would need. As time went on, even the hardest rocks would start to melt and run together forming and even tighter, better sealed structure. Finally, with all the Cullens watching, I slid into my third form and curled around my nest, taking a deep breath then shooting a jet of flame right into the nest. I felt the thrill of energy go through me as the fire touched the eggs for the first time in so long, and I felt a tingling that told me Alice did as well. Edward looked at her strangely but said nothing.

**A/N: Well, whadja think? Huh? Huh? If you're confused or you feel like I'm smushing too many details into this, well, patience young padawan! I'm getting there. This is all culminating into my grand scheme! (*cough cough* kinda...)**

**I need fluff ideas! Please? For YOUR sake, I need fluff ideas because I'm running dry on mushy-gushy muse :/ Help?**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sooo... sorry for being so late... :/ Read on for forgiveness?**

The Cullens watched for a long while, marveling as the eggs turned bright cherry red with the heat, though wary of coming any closer to the flames than was necessary. Emmett and Rosalie were the first to leave, apparently wanting some 'alone time' while the rest of us were out here ogling. Jasper left next, needing to hunt and Edward accompanied him. Esme went inside soon after to finish up the plans for the ranch, and eventually it was just Carlisle, Alice, and I. I was able to let off the fire every now and then, the eggs didn't need a constant stream, but the more heat and consistency I gave them the sooner they would hatch. As such, I kept as musch heat on them as possible, but I was also enjoying my time with a Q&A with Carlisle and Alice.

I took a surprising amount of joy in entertaining the monarch of the Cullen family, as he was probably one of the most curious creatures I had ever met. His mind was quick and starved for knowledge, and his conversations were both polite and intriguing. "So Bella, what were dragon's social groups like?"

"Well," I said, blowing a particularly hot jet of flames on the forge before leaning back, "It depended on gender and age. For most races, young males would stay together in bachelor groups of three of four until they were strong enough to hold their own territory. Large males would hold vast territories, growing in increments for how old and large he was. Females would stay until a likely male came along and wooed either her or her sire, or until her parents kicked her out of the nest. That was rare, though, seeing as dragons are fiercely protective with their young and won't usually lay a second clutch until the first is fully mature."

"But how did they interact with one another? Were they civil like humans are, for the most part, or was it more like animals?"

I had to ponder that for a moment before answering, "Well, both, really. Again there were a few factors it depended on. Age, being that younger dragons were generally more open to others of their kind than older dragons. Females tended to be more welcoming than males. Then there's also they dragon's lifestyle. For instance, dragons were extremely intelligent, as intelligent as you and I. As such, there were those who chose to stay in wild places and hunt for gems and raise hatchlings, but there were also those that came to live amongst humanoid society. They would frequent our universities and libraries, learning and teaching both. Some of our best scholars were dragons," I said, smiling. I could not remember who these scholars were or what they discovered or their ages or even the name of a single university, but I knew the raw facts. How frustrating.

I continued, "Wild dragons interacted very like wild animals do. Those who lived single lives could be compared to male grizzly bears. Lone, fearsome, vagabonds. If they lived in packs, they interacted very much like wolves do. Civilized dragons acted so similar to you and I that you could mistake them for a person in a dragon's body."

"Fascinating," Carlisle smiled.

"Did dragons have soul mates, like vampires do?" Alice asked.

"Yes, but they didn't hold out for them like we do. Dragon gestation periods and then the time it takes for eggs to hatch is such an extensive process, sometimes upwards of five years and then another two or three decades before the hatchlings can start their own families, that the species could die out if they scoured the earth for their one and only. The majority of them were reclusive anyways, even finding a potential mate took a great deal of searching and travel. If they found their soul mate they lived happily ever after, but until that point males might have had up to five females in his harem."

"Didn't that leave quite a few young males without a mate, though?" Carlisle asked.

"Not quite. It was simply Darwinism, that the strongest males would have the greatest potential to breed. Also, the dragon gender ratio is not fifty-fifty, but closer to twenty percent male and eighty percent female."

"Really? Any idea why that is?" He asked, eyes alight.

I chuckled at his enthusiasm, breathing another jet of flames onto my own nest before answering. "Well, it has a lot to do with the temperature the eggs are kept at and how long they are incubated. A slow incubation tends to birth male dragons while a fast incubation tends to birth females. Dragon gender is not set during fertilization, but instead develops once they are in the egg. Male dragons take more time to form than females, so the more time they are given, the more likely they are to be male, but there's still outliers in every clutch."

Carlisle sat down in the grass and stared into the door of the Forge, past the white-blue flames to the eggs inside the Forge, now glowing cherry red hot. While he was transfixed, Alice took the time to ask another question. "How long do you think until these are born, Bella? Could you guess in days or months, anything specific?"

I paused and moved my large reptilian head until one electric blue eye could peer in through the smoke hole in the roof. I examined them carefully. As far as shape went they looked like any chicken egg would, if not the slightest bit more oval. The difference was their size. "These, I would guess, are extremely close to hatching. I would guess between two and three weeks which is a very short period of time considering that they might have been incubated anywhere from six months to four years before now."

Alice bounced in place, clapping her hands. "Oh, I'm so excited. I wonder what genders they will be! Oh, what will you name them, Bella?"

I laughed at her exuberance. "I'm not sure, I haven't thought of it yet, to be honest."

Alice scoffed, rolling her eyes and bringing a hand to her chin. "I'll think on it. I'll make a list or something, and show it to you before they hatch. What were dragons typically named, Bella? Normal names, or like... weird names?"

I grinned her her phrasing, but a frown soon creased my brows as I tried to remember. "I'm... I'm not sure." I sighed. "I can't remember anyone in specific."

Realization flashed across the small vampire's features as she realized my personal disappointment and she was quick to her feet, flashing to my side and laying a cool hand on my scaly hide. "Oh, Bella, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Frankly, I was mostly surprised she could bring herself to walk so close to the swirling inferno that was the Forge. "I know Alice, no offense taken. It's just frustrating I suppose. That knowledge is part of who I was for so long, and now that it's gone I don't feel like the same person anymore."

Alice smiled sadly. "I know what you mean. I suppose it's even worse for you though because you at least know you had a past, you didn't have a clean slate to start with like I did when I was changed." She did not retreat to a safe distance like I thought she would, but instead settled down on the inside of one of my massive forelimbs, resting her back against the scaly white arm.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure it makes a lot of difference either way, really. A past is still a past and it's important no matter what you do or do not remember."

"Anyways, what do dragons eat?" Alice asked, clearly trying to change the subject.

I smiled at the diversion. "Not just meat, despite what you may think. Dragons needed a lot of things in their diet. They loved fruit and vegetables for one thing, and they adored mead and ale."

"Dragons like alcohol?" Alice giggled and Carlisle, who had been quiet this whole while, grinned.

"No, they _loved_ it." I sighed as a fresh memory hit me. "I vaguely remember a... a festival, I think it was. A winter festival and there was a brewer, an elf I think. He made the best berry mead and I remember the dragons absolutely adoring it. It was treasured stuff, they would trade jewels and gold in mass quantities for it." I shook myself out of the memory. "That's not the strangest bit though, they also need to eat rocks."

Alice's eyes narrowed. "Really?"

I nodded my head. "Mhmm. The acids in our stomachs that help us breath fire are extremely volatile and corrosive. Without the stones in our gut they would burn through our organs. One cool thing, though, is that a dragon's fire color changes depending on the key elements found in the rocks they eat. It varies from orange, which is most sedimentary, calcium and granite based rocks, to yellow to blue, even pink and purple."

Alice's eyes grew wide and she said, "Oh I would love to see something like that. Which rock turns the flames purple?"

"Obsidian, mostly. It's the volcanic ash and the gasses trapped inside that do it."

I saw Carlisle's eyes twinkle and I could just imagine the experiments he was concocting in his head. Before he could voice them, however, the back door of the house swung open and Esme stuck her head out. At a normal voice, seeing as we could all hear quite well, she asked, "Bella? Are you hungry? I can fix you just about anything."

I grinned wolfishly but shook my head. "Unless you've got a bull elk in your fridge I doubt it. Using this much fire makes a drake hungry, I've been meaning to go hunting here in a bit."

Alice flashed to her feet and said, "Want to help each other out? I need to hunt too. As long as you don't mind your meat without the blood we could kill two birds with one stone."

It didn't take me long to consider her proposition, and eventually I just smiled and said, "That sounds fine by me. Just give me another five minutes, these base stones are nearly molten. Once they are they should maintain steady heat while were gone."

"Deal," Alice grinned. True to my word, it wasn't more than five minutes before the stone base was an oozing mess. I shifted down to my Demiform, seeing as my limbs wouldn't have fit in my current state, and reached an arm into the inferno, picking the eggs up and setting them on my some spelled hardwood logs and cinders so they wouldn't become melted into the floor. Alice watched me with a certain amount of amusement as the flames licked at my skin with no effect, but for me it felt like nothing more than a warm tickle. To me it was like water touching a fish, or mud touching a pig. It was just a part of me, just how I was made. I expanded into my third form again

"Are there others like you, Bella?" Carlisle asked, standing and brushing his pants off, clearly ready to leave us to our hunt but wanting to get just a few more questions in.

"How do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Other... hybrids, so to speak."

_No,_ another voice answered. To my surprise I saw Mavrik trotting up from inside the forest. He was projecting his thoughts so that we could all hear. _Bella is truly one of a kind. For a dragon and a sorceress to conceive a child is just as impossible as it sounds, yet it was done. We don't know how or why, though._

"I try not to think on it too much," I said, dropping my head down and nuzzled Mav's side.

_I personally think she must have been made for a greater purpose, with some kind of divine intervention but Bella refuses to believe she is that important. Which I also personally think is a load of bull, seeing as she was Queen of the entire world. You don't get much more important than that._

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "But I'm not Queen of anything anymore and quite frankly I don't have much inclination to become one again. The world is in tatters here, it's not my land anymore. If it was still mine it would still be a beautiful utopia. This _isn't_ a Utopia, not anywhere close. This is hell, and I have no want to preside over it. Medieval knights may have called dragons devil spawn, but I don't want it to be true," I scoffed. I turned to Alice, ignoring Carlisle's thoughtful face, and asked "You ready to go?"

She smiled and nodded. "I'll run though, if you just want to fly over head."

"Can do!" I agreed with a smile. "You want to come, Mavrik? We're going hunting."

The large wolf smiled in his wolfish way but shook his head. _No thank you. I've spent my entire day roaming around for a pack to take over and didn't find a single one worth my time. I'm exhausted and all I really need is a nap._

I shrugged my massive white shoulders and said, "Whatever suits you," then spread my wings wide and launched myself into the air. Between my raptor-like eyes and my ability to sense heat (even though Alice was remarkably colder than the surrounding forest, I could still track her that way,) it was easy to keep on the vampire's tail and avoid human eyes. There was a time or two when I had to bank far off in one direction and work my way back or climb high into the clouds to avoid being seen on the roads. I enjoyed it, though, as I enjoyed any opportunity to stretch my wings. Finally Alice came upon a large meadow, housing a deer herd of perhaps twenty does and a few bucks. She wasted no time launching herself onto one. The rest of them scattered as their fallen herd mate bleated out in fear. I streamlined my body and rocketed down towards the earth. As always I snapped my wings out at the last moment and landed with a jarring impact, perpendicular to the fleeing deer. I displayed myself broadside and sharply angled my neck and back, arching like a cat, legs positioned so each was visible. I flared my wings out so as to give myself the largest apparent body mass as possible and snapped my tale from side to side. My scales rattled and the spikes on my back, tail, wings, neck, and face glinted dangerously in the sunless late afternoon.

Despite vampires being dangerous predators, I was still what a deer's instinct considered a natural predator. I was a savage beast and much larger, therefore triggering a much more severe response. The entire herd turned on a dime and raced back towards the pixie vampire who had just finished her first meal and was watching my display with pointed fascination. Realizing the opportunity I had provided for her she snapped into action and launched herself once more at an approaching stag. Finally the herd ran free from our snapping jaws, and as Alice began her work on the fresh deer I laid my wings against my scaly back and walked over to her first kill site. Smiling, I let loose a small, relatively cool jet of flame. The fire licked off the deer's hair and in my personal opinion, made the meat taste much better. Snapping may jaws once, I dove in.

My normally pristine white maw was reddened with gore and the deer was little more than a skeletal carcass when I was done. Alice was sitting atop an upturned rock feature on the far side of the meadow when I thought to look around, and I wondered briefly if my eating had disgusted her. I frowned at the thought, stomach roiling with sudden unease. Still, I was not one to waste perfectly good meat. I was much quicker with this second deer, snapping it up and into my maw in a few short bites. I ran my raspy, forked tongue over my maw, trying my very best to remove any meat still lodged there, then glided at ground level to where Alice sat. Despite the rocks being a good ten feet up into the air she still had to look up at me when she turned.

She smiled at me as she was apparently wont to do, but that didn't stop me from settling down into a sphinx-like position and grimacing. "Alice, it occurred to me that I may have been a bit vulgar with my eating methods. I hope I didn't offend you. It's hard to keep the dragon side of me civilized and under wraps when I'm hungry."

She blinked at me a few times, confused, then reassured, "No, no! Of course you didn't offend me! Are you kidding, I just slaughtered Bambi's mother and father, drank their blood, and you're worrying about how you ate?" She laughed and stood before jumping down onto the ground before me. "Besides, I know all about the inner beast getting the best of you when you hunt. I was just up on that rock because it's beautiful here with the sun starts to set."

I looked into the sky and saw that the clouds were beginning to break up just enough to let pale orange sunlight filter through. It couldn't have been more than six or seven o' clock, but October was just around the corner and the days were shortening. I snaked my head up to inspect the top of the rock and, finding it passable, smiled. I stood and with one scaly paw (which are just as dexterous as a humans hands, I might add. Dragons can even write, given the right equipment!) grabbed Alice around her middle and lifted her back onto the boulder. She shrieked in displeasure though I knew it was mostly in jest, and my laughter followed me as I shrank down from dragon so semi-dragon form. I vaulted up onto the rock, white hair streaming out behind me, and landed soundlessly, pulling my human form out and over me as well. I sat next to Alice and looked up at the sky.

"You're right. This is nice." I said, cheeky.

"You could have just said that without manhandling me, you know!" She said, indignant.

I snickered and lay back, settling my head on my hands and crossing one leg over the other. Alice sighed and mimicked me as we watched the clouds begin to clear and the sky turn even more vivid colors.

"You're right," I answered finally. "I could have, but that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun."

Alice just laughed and shrugged, laying down beside me. We just lay their in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again. "So do you feel any closer to unlocking your past?"

Her question caught me off guard, and I said, "Since before I met you? By leaps and bounds, of course I do, but it's still barely anything compared to how far I still need to go."

"Hmm," she considered that. "What do you think it is about us, and about me, that triggers so many things for you?"

"I'm not sure, not even a little bit," I answered right off the bat. "If I had to hazard a guess, I think being close to your family helps bring things back up because it's so... _odd_. Like the old me is startled that I'm being so friendly, conversing even, with vampires that she can't help but jump out a little bit."

Alice smiled in the growing darkness and said, "So we just need to keep the old you on her toes? Sounds do-able! I wonder if seeing the castle, or seeing living dragons again, would help too."

"I can only hope," I sighed. I really did miss the old me, which I suppose was strange seeing as I didn't remember that version of myself at all, no more than these fragmented, ragged pieces. It's not terribly hard to understand how the feeling of a gaping hole in your gut would become annoying though, right?

"Have you ever tried meditating?" Alice asked. "Just sat down in a calm, quite place and let your thought wander? I've tried that with my memories."

"Did it help?" I asked, eye brows raised.

Alice's face soured and she said, "Well... not really, actually." I started to chuckle but she was quick to defend herself. "But it did give me a lot of time to come up with ideas about it and inspired me to seek out the information I know now because of it! Besides, it might be different for you. My memories were wiped away, there's nothing there at all, but yours are just hidden."

I nodded my head slowly. "Alright, you've redeemed yourself, I'll give it a go," I smirked and saw her grimace from the corner of my eyes. "I haven't meditated much though, I might need a few pointers."

"Really?" She asked.

"Well, I've been pretty busy since I woke up, and besides that I've had to relearn almost everything about the world, cultural habits like that have slipped through the cracks."

Alice's curiosity was piqued once more and she asked, "Bella, will you give me some sort of time line? What all have you done in the century or so you've been awake?"

I looked up at the drifting clouds as I organized my thoughts. "Alright. Well, Mavrik and I woke up in a cave in the cliffs of Northern France. At that point we didn't know much else except our names, our species, and that a lot of time had passed. We spent a good five years or so in seclusion just learning how to use our bodies again, our powers, and get to the point where we could be inconspicuous in normal society. After that we went to Paris. I needed to completely relearn how people interacted seeing as how so much has changed since my original day and age. Once we had learned the language I chopped off my hair, bond up my chest, dressed in men's clothes, and Mav and I joined the Parisian Police Force." Alice looked impressed but I just shrugged. "We needed the money and I couldn't sew or do hair or make up or any of the few feminine profession in that day and age but I knew how to fight and run.

"Anyways we stayed in Paris for a few years until my secret was discovered and the police force ousted us. After that we flew across the Channel and lived in England for a while doing the same thing. Slowly but surely I was getting glimpses of our past lives. I spent my spare time in museums and libraries and archives, desperately searching for anything at all. When I had exhausted England I went to Germany, then Spain, then Italy, dodging world wars and such the whole time. It was in Italy that I saw a vampire for the first time and that triggered my first big memory bomb. It was one of the Volturi, actually, though for the life of me I can't remember which. I was sitting by a fountain on a rainy day and my instinct had my eyes ranging around until I finally saw a cloaked figure lurking in the shadows, watching me. I knew immediately what they were and I nearly went full dragon right in the middle of Volterra. The vampire, sensing the danger I'm sure, fled, but I was faster. I don't know how I did it, I barely remember, but I chased him down and roasted him alive." My voice was quiet and muted, thick with emotion. The little voice inside my head told me to be more careful with my words, that I might offend Alice, but the flood gates had been opened.

"After that I knew what had happened all those thousands of years ago and I was filled with so much rage. Mavrik and I made it our missions in life for the next two decades to hunt down and kill vampires. The Volturi are lucky that at that point I didn't know of their presence in that Italian city or I would have burned the whole place to the ground." I clenched my jaw, but soon forced myself to relax. I sighed and said, "I came to America after that, looking to broaden my horizons but ended up finding the wolves instead. Their mission was so similar to mine and I felt such a pull to the land here that I stayed put. Mavrik and I have lived at La Push for the decades since then, not leaving much except to occasionally track down a vampire who escaped the wolves, and the rare and random vacation when Mavrik and I needed to get away. We've even been to Antarctica," I grinned at her, then sobered again. "It's given me a lot of time to think and mellow out. And then you all showed up and here we are," I shrugged simply.

Alice looked at me through wide eyes and a trill of fear shot through me.

"Oh no. I've scared you, didn't I? Alice, you know I'd never hurt your-"

"No, no, that's not it. I suppose your story is still so impressive to me, even after everything else." She chuckled a bit, obviously trying to lighten the mood. "You know, I wish you really had known the Volturi were there in Italy, it would have saved the rest of us a lot of trouble."

I laughed with her.

"Well, that's where you've been and what you've done, roughly. What about other things? What did you find the most odd when you were relearning everything? Who was your favorite person you met when you woke up again?"

I smiled at her enthusiasm. "Oh, I don't know. I know for one thing I did _not_ like air planes," my eyes narrowed. "The sky is for birds and dragons in my opinion, not humans."

"That makes sense," The small pixie grinned and I felt my stomach flip in a strange way.

"As for people I've met?" I really had to think about that one. "I'm not sure on that either, we really didn't talk to anyone. We didn't socialize much until we came to La Push."

"Really?" She asked, apparently surprised. "Not even any acquaintances, no good friends... no lovers?" It was strange how breathless she seemed towards the end of her questions but I didn't put much weight behind it.

I shook my head, "Nah, not for me. Mav's had a few litters of pups, but he's quite the player," I grinned trying to make a joke of it. "In all honesty, I never had the social skills to attract friends, much less more than that. I'm still pretty bad with it, I'm not great at reading social cues or sensing the emotions or thoughts of others," I shrugged. "None of that really contributes to my heart-winning abilities." I swallowed, my throat dry. "How about you?"

Alice rolled her eyes and sighed. "I've met plenty of amazing people in my life, but then again I'm charismatic and easily loveable," she grinned and I laughed at her proud expression. "As for lovers, well, I've had flings but I've never been serious with anyone," she frowned. "My visions make me hesitant on the subject. I can see nearabout everything, you know? But I can't see me with a mate of my own, every time I try I just get dizzy and tired."

I frowned. I didn't like the sound of that at all. If anyone deserved a loving second half it was Alice. She was kindhearted and sweet and loyal, and it dawned on me that if someone like _her_ didn't have a mate, what chance did I have? "I'm sure you'll find someone, Alice. A body would have to be out of their mind not to fall for your charm and wit and all that," I grinned and she laughed beside me.

"I know, that's what I keep telling them, but no one listens! I'm glad you understand at least," she joked.

"Hey, happy to help." By now the moon had risen well above the trees and the stars twinkled brightly over head. "We should probably get back before your family sends out a search party." I also wanted to get back to my eggs, to be honest.

Alice smiled. "I agree." A devilish smirk appeared on her lips and she said, "It's so dark out now, could we fly back."

I laughed and sat up, looking down at her through playfully narrowed eyes. "I think you're just using me for my easy transportation methods, you little speed demon."

She laughed up at me and held up her hands, "Oh darn, you caught me. Well, that and the fact that it's a completely unique, amazing, awesome experience." She shrugged. "One of the two."

I rolled my eyes, thinking, _that and every time we fly our souls sing,_ but I figured she would feel just as creepy saying that as I did thinking it so I left the matter alone. "Well, I suppose I could give you a lift, just this once. But from now on I'm requesting one favor per flight, no arguments!"

A trickle of fear flashed behind her eyes and she asked, "Favors? Like what?"

I shrugged. "Not sure, but I'll let you know when I think of something good."

it was her turn to roll her eyes and she said, "I'm sure you will. Well, fine then! I accept your terms. Now get your scaly ass up and moving!"

I gave her a sloppy salute and leaped from the top of the rock as a human, shifting in midair and landing with a bit of a thud as a massive four tonne beast, skittering a few more paces away with my momentum. I turned back to her and asked in my raspy, sultry voice, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

She laughed and leaped down as well, jogging over to my side and scrambling up to sit just behind my shoulder joint. "Alright captain, ready for take off!" She giggled and I snorted my amusement, a puff of smoke trailing up from my nostrils.

"Hold on tight!" I said. There was no running bounds before I took off this time, Just a straight upward leap and the pumping the wings that had us hurtling straight up into the air. I extended one wing just a few inches and tucked the other one tight against us and suddenly we were spinning in a tight corkscrew upwards. I snapped my wings open once more when gravity began once more to take hold, but by then were were above the clouds. The night sky was displayed before us in it's full brilliance and Alice gasped as I gently winged us back in the direction of the Cullens abode.

"Y'know, if you were ever of a mind to take someone flying and plan it out and all that, this would make the worlds top ten best dates list for sure," Alice said, voice full of awe as she surveyed the twinkling lights above us and the twinkling lights below.

I ignored the feeling as once more my stomach did somersaults and instead snorted. "I'll keep that in mind, though I really doubt I'd ever take anyone else flying"

"And why's that?" Alice asked.

"Well, no one else in your family has taken a real interest in it and no one else knows I'm half dragon! By process of elimination, you're the only one left!"

She scoffed and said, "Well now, don't I feel special."

"As you should," I joked, plunging us into a steep dive.

**A/N: Boy-o-boy! Has it been a long time since I updated, because I think it has. In fact, I KNOW it has :/ Sowwy. Forgive me please? I won't even pressure you all for reviews because I feel so guilty. If it's any consolation, s#!+'s about to hit the fan next chapter, which I'll get up a LOT sooner than I did with this one. I love you all! Goodbye until next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to my American brethren, and Happy update day to the rest! (: I hope you enjoy it, I was up until 2 a.m. Last night to ensure I had an update for you today! More fluff, and maybe some development at the end there? Yeah?**

We landed quietly back at the house without the usually fanfare of sudden dives or jets of flame. I just set down nice and easy next to the Forge. Alice slid off my back and I pulled back into my second form before walking over to inspect the nest. The stones still glowed a faint ruby red though the eggs themselves had lost their glowing orange hue. I took in a deep breath and, even in my second form, released it in a jet of white-blue flames. The light from it must have alerted the rest of the Cullens to our return because before even five seconds could pass they were out on the lawn with us.

"How was your hunt, girls?" Esme asked.

"Great," Alice said. "we didn't waste a single thing and then we just chilled out in this meadow for a little bit and talked." She looked up and saw that the clouds were thicker here and frowned. "There were actually stars there."

"How lovely," Esme cooed.

Rosalie had joined us as well and she approached Alice, tapping her on the shoulder and said, "You're not gonna like this, but it had to be done. While you were gone I went online and bought some new clothes for Bella, so no shopping trips for you."

Alice's mouth dropped open and mine probably would have as well if their wasn't a scorching inferno spewing from it, though while my shock was over the fact that Rosalie had taken the initiative to do something nice for me, Alice apparently had different qualms. "Rose! How could you? You just jipped me out of a perfectly good trip to the mall! You know how important shopping is to me, and now I can't get new things and Bella didn't even get to try them on and really, _how could you_?" She reiterated, seeming close to tears.

Rosalie held up placating hands and said, "Now Alice, I bought clothes for all of us. I didn't buy high fashion, I bought us each a new wardrobe of work clothes and heavy weather clothes for up in Alaska, for appearances and all that."

Alice sniffed, "Well... still!"

Carlisle stepped in and said, "Alice, it needed to be done. And anyways, I have no doubt in my mind that you'll end up at the mall before we leave anyways."

Alice sniffled once more then grinned, "You're probably right."

I watched the whole display through worried eyes and Edward, having noted this, sidled up to me and whispered, "If you know what's good for you, _never_ agree to accompany Alice to the mall. Very few make it out unscathed."

I cut off my jet of flame and made a fist with my right hand, bringing it up to give him a solid fist bump for the heads up. "Thanks, man." I shuddered. Shopping was one of those things it took me a long time to become accustomed myself to. It seemed so... so _strange_! I mean, why go out and buy clothes when you could just make them, and what was the point of having more than a handful of shirts anyways?

Suddenly the two missing Cullen's caught my attention, merely by the lack of them. "Where are Emmett and Jasper?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes and answered, "Emmett ordered a new game online a few days ago and the package came in just minutes after the two of you left. He and Jasper are inside obsessing over it, tactical advantages and weapons or... something." She shrugged but my interest was piqued.

"Hmm, I never got the chance to play a lot of video games at the Rez. What's it called?"

"Jesus on a Disk!" Emmett boomed from inside the house.

"But most people just call it Skyrim!" Jasper called and we chuckled. Just as quickly the blond male blurred out of the house and came to rest before us, a worried expression on his face. "Well, Emmett doesn't have the tact for this, so I want to ask... well, your permission to play the game?" He seemed so abashed, I'm not sure if that or the fact that he needed my permission to play confused me more.

"Why do you need to ask?" I questioned, one eyebrow raised.

"Well..." He sighed then chuckled. "You know, it seems so shallow now that I've met you, and especially with these eggs here, but the game kind of heavily involves slaying dragons." I frowned and he rushed to continue. "And we totally understand if that's offensive to you, and we wanted to know if you wanted to see the game and let us know what you think of it? It's supposed to be really good game play, if a bit drastically uninformed from what you've told us about dragons."

I tilted my head to the side. "How do you mean, uninformed? Do they portray the dragons as horrible, fire breathing beasts that swoop in on unsuspecting villages, devour all in sight, then swoop off again into the night?"

Jasper nodded vehemently. "And from what you've told us, dragons aren't actually anything like that. But anyways, Emmett and I agreed that we wouldn't play if it was offensive to you."

I considered this. "Well, I won't tell you not to play, it's your game after all. Besides, dragons _aren't_ like that at all so I think there's enough of a disconnect that it doesn't matter to me. Is that all the game is about, though?" I queried, intrigued more about the nature of the game in general more due to my general lack of knowledge.

Jasper beamed and led me inside, going on about Stormcloaks and Imperials and Jarls and High Elves, all of which was eagerly absorbed by my wanting ears. Emmett welcomed me into the living room like an old video game veteran. I watched as Emmett's character was forced down onto an executioner's block just as a black dragon, relatively small all things considered, flew into view. I watched as it trashed this village in seconds and grinned at the theatrics. The boys and I took turns talking about the game play and how this dragon, Alduin apparently, was similar and dissimilar to the real deal. Jasper handed me a guidebook that had come with the game, a massive six hundred plus page thing, that I leafed through. I caught on quickly. The other four Cullens sat with us for as long as they could bear but were eventually driven off by our heated arguments about skills and enchanted armor. I'm not ashamed at all to admit that I stayed up all night with them as Emmett and Jasper took turns playing, with me running out every now and then to blast more flames onto the eggs.

The sky began to lighten and Emmett switched off the xbox. I ran out one last time to look over the eggs. They seemed to hum with energy and I in turn felt their same excitement to hatch. Their life force resonated in my veins, and I'm sure mine did in theirs. Alice found me like that, kneeling in front of the forge, white hair swirling in the gray dawn mist.

"How do they look?" She asked.

"Fantastic," I said with a smile, then looked up at her and my breath hitched. In the new dawn light, Alice's porcelain skin glowed a dusky rose. Her short, spiky hair fluttered in the wind and her amber eyes were nigh on luminescent. Her attire was simple, dark skinny jeans and shin high boots, an ivory colored sweater and a silver necklace. But she looked beautiful. "Nearly, uhm, nearly ready to hatch." I stumbled over my words, trying to distract myself.

Alice's brow furrowed. "Are you feeling okay, Bella?"

The dragon within me stirred, restless and begging to be let forth. Instead I pulled my all human form over me with some difficulty, scared of what was happening. "I'm not sure. It must be the eggs, I think. The energy in them is setting the dragon in me on edge, I guess. I'm a little restless."

Alice's confusion gave way to a wide smile. "Great! Does that mean they're close to hatching, then? Maybe closer than you thought?"

I chuckled, uneasy still but regaining control in my completely human form. "We can only hope. Now don't we have places to be?"

Alice grinned again. "True. C'mon then, today you're driving with me."

As it happened, Jasper rode with Edward in his Volvo, Rose rode with Emmett in his jeep, and I accompanied Alice in a canary yellow Porsche. The ride to school was spent, understandably, discussing cars. Alice told me of all the cars she had owned and gushed about how this one was her favorite. The ride was short, unusually or so it seemed to me, as before long we had pulled into the lot. Alice stole a spot beside her siblings and we emerged.

"Ready for another glorious day of education?" Edward asked dryly. We rolled our eyes and grumbled.

"I can't wait until this farce is over with," I muttered. My mind buzzed with plans for the future. All around us the humans buzzed with gossip, like why was I with them, why they had latched on to me and no one else, why had I ridden here with Alice and not the others? They were idiots, all of them. "I don't know how you all stand their mindless prattle," I grumbled under my breath.

"It's easier when you consider they use about the same amount of brain space as the average cow," Jasper chuckled.

I just shrugged. At least cows were good for eating. People were good for eating too, if you were a dragon, I suppose. Cheery images filled my head and brought a smile to my face as I walked into the building. English was unremarkable. We were in the lab all day writing descriptive poetry which, while I found entertaining for the most part, I couldn't focus on. My mind was preoccupied with other things. The castle for one and the eggs for another. I thought of sneaking Alice into La Push and trying that other spot, I remembered how she helped me find the first clutch of eggs. I remembered the warm feeling, and flying with her. I thought of all the places we could go flying, all the places I've seen and the ones I wanted to show her. I imagined how she would react, what her expression would be. What she would say. What I would do.

The bell rang, and I jumped.

Light laughter had me turning my head, and I found Angela staring at me with amused eyes. "Welcome back, Bella. How was the moon?"

"What?" I asked, dazed.

"You sat there all period, staring off into space. You alright?" She smiled gently as she gathered her things.

"I suppose so. A lot on my mind, I guess."

Angela just shrugged. "It happens. See ya in gym Bella!"

"Yeah, alright," I smiled and turned down the hall. I had gone a whole class without one catastrophe happening, without a single bitchy blond breathing down my neck. It was a record so far.

Emmett was waiting for me in history with a broad grin on his face. "Guess what I thought of last period!"

"Oh jeez," I muttered with a small smile. "What did you think of?"

"A few things, actually. First off, jousting. Second, and archery range. Third, could you infect animals with your dragon-ness? And finally, could we build an underwater hot spring of sorts? Wouldn't that be awesome?" He was so excited I couldn't help but laugh.

"Wow, um, alright! I can see we're going to be busy!" I settled down and in hushed whispers we discussed his plans, top to bottom. I told him about Destriers and war horses, how jousting had worked and what all it entailed. We talked about archery and different bows, long bows and cross bows and even modern day compound bows. I told him that if I were to give my blood to an animal, while it would not turn them into the animal-dragon hybrid he envisioned, it would give them an extended life and certain draconic properties. The hot spring, on the other hand, was relatively feasible. Before we knew it the class was over with.

"Dammit, Em," I said as we walked out of the class. "I'm not going to learn one damn thing if you keep talking to me every day."

"I won't apologize," Emmett grinned. "And why do I get the feeling you ace one of those tests anyways, hands down?"

I just sniffed in disdain. Before I could answer a pair of small, strong arms grabbed me from behind, latching around my neck. "What the-" I nearly flipped my assailant over my shoulder and onto the ground, but then I heard the tinkling laughter and knew it was Alice. I laughed as well. "Hello to you, too!"

"Hi, Bella!" She laughed out.

I readjusted so her vice grip turned into a piggy back ride. Her arms hung loosely around my neck and I found myself focusing on her legs around my waist. A blush rose in my cheeks. To distract myself I asked, "Is this how you greet everyone?"

"No, just you."

"And why is that?" I asked in a fake exasperated tone.

"She's ridden you often enough, what's so different now?" Emmett joked at full volume.

Aghast that he had so callously revealed a part of my secret I quickly punched him in the arm. "What the hell, Emmett!"

Emmett was broken out in laughter, cutting it off in a big cheesy grin. With movements too small and volume too low for the humans, he said, "Don't worry Bella, the humans will get an _entirely _different connotation from that. It's much worse, I think."

It took me a minute to process that, then my cheeks flared bright red and Emmett's laughter began again. I couldn't speak.

"Aw, Emmett, you broke her!" Alice laughed before nuzzling her nose into the crook of her neck. My traitorous body shivered. I was equally horrified that Alice was playing along.

"You two are horrible!" I shook Alice off my back, glaring at the closest of the whisperers that had now spread through the length of the entire hall. I looked to Emmett with murder in my eyes and said, "You just wait until Rose hears about this. See if you get any for the next month!" I hissed. Emmett's face froze then dropped.

"You wouldn't," he said.

"Watch me!" I stormed past them and into the art room.

Lauren's smirk awaited me. "So, is it true then?" she asked right off.

"Is what true?" My tone was dry and exasperated. He last thing I wanted was to deal with her bullshit. I was still, obviously, riled up from Emmett's jape and equally riled by Alice's actions and my body's reactions.

"You're shagging short stuff, duh," Lauren said, rolling her eyes.

My breath hitched. A volley of images rolled behind my eyes, concoctions of thoughts I hadn't known had existed until Lauren had said that, so blatantly and vulgarly. I couldn't speak, just grow red once more in a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"I'll take that as a yes," Lauren said with a chuckle then pulled out her phone.

"Whoa, hold on! No! I'm not! That was just-"

"What's going on here?" Alice said, sensing the tense environment as soon as she walked up.

Lauren smiled something like a dangerous smile. "Yours and Bella's little secret is officially out, that's all."

"We're-"

"Damn," Alice said, then leaned in a kissed me on the cheek. Once more, my gods damned body betrayed me. A shiver, my breath caught in my throat. "Oh well."

Mrs. Grace called the class to order then and began passing out small 6x10 canvasses. "Alright class, we're starting oils today."

I wasn't paying attention. Below human hearing I asked, "What the _hell,_ Alice?"

She pouted a little. "I'm sorry. Are you mad?"

"Yes! No. I don't know! What are you doing?" My flustered nerves were apparent even in my lowered tone.

Alice sighed, pout growing deeper. "I don't like the way some of these boys have been looking at you! So, I just figured... and then Emmett brought it up, so..." She shrugged a little.

I sighed. "No one has been looking at _me_, Alice. They look at you all, not me."

"Bella, are you blind?" Alice grumbled.

My brows narrowed. "Of course not. I have better vision than you do-"

"That's not what I meant! How haven't you noticed! They never talk because you intimidate them more than Rosalie does, but they _leer_ at you like you're some piece of meat. And I hate it," she said, the last bit coming out as a hiss.

I smiled weakly. "And so you're venting your protective nature by pretending you're my girlfriend?"

Alice sniffed. "That's just an added bonus,"

I looked at her from the corner of my eyes.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Anyone would be lucky to have you, obviously. If I can make a few meatbags jealous in the process, all the better, right?"

It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"C'mon Bella! It'll be fun! We're only going to be here for another week or so, anyways. Please?"

It was my turn to laugh. "Alice, did you just ask me out?"

A smile wormed it's way onto her cheeks, though I could tell she was fighting to keep her serious demeanor. "Maybe. For pretenses of course."

"Of course," I muttered, then wrapped an arm around her shoulders as Mrs. Grace finished her lecture. I pulled Alice close to my side and whispered in her ear, letting my breath brush her neck "You're not the only one who can play this game though." She shivered.

Lauren was watching us with avid interest, but we ignored her.

The rest of the class period was spent painting landscapes from magazine clippings and talking. Alice and I discussed Emmett's idea of a hotspring in vague enough terms that Lauren would have no clue as to the reality of it.

"It'd be nice to go swimming every now and then," Alice said. "Seeing as we aren't welcome down at La Push. I think it'd be cool."

"We could work it out after school today if you wanted."

"Do you own a bikini?" She asked.

My brows furrowed and I said, "Of course I do, I was raised on the beach."

"Good," Alice said, wiggling her eyebrows.

I thought Lauren might have a coronary. At the very least her thumbs would wear down to nubs from the speed of her texting, likely updating her friends on every detail.

"You're incorrigible," I sighed.

When the bell rang, Lauren was the first up and out of her seat, out the door, surely on her way to discuss the very important details of Alice and I's courtship with gods only know who. Alice and I burst out laughing and remained that way until we reached the lunch room. The second we walked in the room was _filled_ with some whispers and some shouts, all about us. And what was worse? I think I enjoyed it.

"I've never been the center of attention before, this is new for me," I laughed, looking down at Alice.

"Get used to it, you're rolling with Cullens now." She smirked and looped her arm through mine.

I rolled my eyes.

We arrived at the table, Emmett was grinning like a fool and the others were looking at us keen interest.

"So, anything you'd like to tell us?" Edward asked.

"No need to fear for your sister's chastity yet, Eddie boy, this little farce is Alice's brain child. You'll have to ask her the specifics, I'm just a play thing." I laughed and Emmett laughed too.

"You didn't seem so chill this morning, Bella," he mocked.

I just shrugged. "We came to an agreement."

"You two are pretending to be going out to mess with the humans?" Rose asked, a smiled on her lips.

Remembrance flashed through my mind. "We are! And you know what, you'll _never guess_ who started it all," I said, switching my gaze from her to a hard stare at Emmett. He gulped. Alice must have been recollecting the incident because Edward burst out laughing.

"On my way to art today, I was ambushed by Alice. She jumped on my back and _insisted_ I give her a piggy back ride. Emmett made a rather crude comment about her _riding_ me, and the wildfire began to spread. I was horrified, of course, so I vowed to ensure he remained abstinent for at least a month. Anything I could do to persuade you to my cause?"

Emmett looked like I had just kicked his puppy. Rose just smiled and said, "I think we could work something out," she said.

"Babe!" Emmett crowed, aghast.

"Don't tease Bella, Emmett. She's smarter than you," Rosalie chided gently and we all laughed, all of us save Emmett, of course.

**A/N: I hope you had as much fun reading that as I did writing it, I think this chapter has been my favorite so far! I need your help though! Opinions?**

**Should they get together _next_ chapter, or do I drag it out a little longer? I have the stage set either way xD Let me know what you think!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: ANOTHER UPDATE! Damn, I'm on a roll :D**

Jasper recollected us with a, "So how long is this little farce going to last for? Any big drama bombs planned? Scandals, maybe?"

Alice laughed and just shrugged. "Who knows! Probably until we leave, but it depends on how this test run goes. Who knows, I might decide to keep her!"

I rolled my eyes and chuckled out, "Oh, lucky me." I plucked an apple from my tray and took a bite, considering while I chewed. "Drama bombs might be fun, though. But you're all supposed to be keeping a low profile, aren't you? I mean, we could have a lot of fun with it otherwise."

Edward laughed, "Yeah, just throw one of us out into the sun."

"Jasper could make them all fall in love with their teachers," Rosalie chuckled.

"I could read their futures," Alice mused.

"I could breath fire," I muttered more to myself but looked up at the sudden drop in conversation to see five amused faces staring back at me.

"Well then," Edward sighed. "Bella wins."

School was already becoming tedious, and I had yet to make it through a full day. Earth science was interesting in itself, but my classmates made it hard. They were constantly abuzz with gossip and without Alice there to make it fun, it was just annoying. At least Angela had the common decency to ask me about it to my face, even though I felt kind of flaky lying to her.

"So Bella, I've heard some buzz going around the school. You mind talking about it?" She asked, her voice a bit timid.

I laughed a little and smiled. "Wow, someone's actually going to say it to my face, I'm stunned! Yeah, I don't mind," I said with a little shrug.

Angela smiled, relieved. "It's true, then?"

"Be more specific, you know how gossip goes." I rolled my eyes.

"You and Alice are together?"

Those damn butterflies twisted my stomach again. I smiled, a tiny blush covering my cheeks. "Yeah, we are. But it's nothing too serious, you know?"

"New relationship?" Angela asked with a smile.

I just nodded.

"She must be one special girl then. I bet just about any guy in the school, few girls too I'd bet, would go cliff diving to be with you. I've heard them talking."

She said it so nonchalantly. I blushed, tilting my head down so my hair would hide most of it away. I ignored Edward's chuckling on the other side of class. "Yeah, she really is," I mumbled, smiling to myself. At least that wasn't a lie. Alice was really, really one of a kind.

Angela laughed and leaned over her desk to ruffle my hair. "D'aww, you're so cute, all shy and what not. I'm sure you and Alice are adorable together."

I huffed and pouted, fixing my hair. "Hey now!" I said with a small laugh.

Edward insisted walking me to Psych, a knowing smile on his face, and one that concerned me greatly. "So, I'll admit I'm surprised you agreed to this whole thing," he chuckled out.

I smiled as well. "Yeah, you and me both."

"Why did you?" Edward asked. "Normally I would just be able to read your thoughts and find out, but since it's _you_, I'll confess to being quite curious."

I chewed my lip, considering. "You know, I don't even know. I guess I just thought it'd be fun. Kind of a 'Why the hell not?' thing."

Edward nodded, thinking. Finally he laughed again and said, "Alice is actually going off the walls with it. I swear, that girl is mental. You don't know what you've gotten yourself into."

I just laughed and smiled and shrugged, all at the same time. I couldn't help it. The prospect of dating Alice wasn't entirely unpleasant, though it did have me honestly considering my sexuality. Not that I had ever been interested in men _or_ woman before, but the fact that I might have found interest in anyone at all was a curious thing. I mean, _was_ I interested? Is this even what it felt like? Or did I just enjoy Alice's company? I had no idea about the symptoms I should be looking out for.

"I don't know," I said finally. "It could be worse."

Edward's eyes gleamed. "How so?"

I laughed and scrunched up my face in a playful manner and shoved his shoulder. "Oh I don't know, I could be dating _you_ Mr. Nosey!"

I'm sure he was surprised when I actually had the strength to move him, but oh well. He stumbled a few feet. "Hey now, hey now!" he laughed. "It was just a question! I can't help that I'm a curious man!"

"Yeah, you're Carlisle's son alright." We had arrived at my class so I waved him off and stepped inside.

Rosalie was at my side instantly. For a quiet moment we just watched each other as if we were both surprised. "Hey," she said shyly.

"Hey."

She wrung her hands and looked down before saying, "I... I mean, now that we're alone-" I realized Jasper hadn't arrived yet. "-I wanted to apologize."

I blinked. "For what?"

"For practically attacking you a few days ago," she muttered. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you, and I acted before I thought about it."

I smiled gently and shook my head, "Nah, you don't need to apologize. You were just protecting your family. I practically did the same thing when we first met at the Quilleute border. No sweat. But we're good now, right?"

Rosalie smiled too. "We're good."

"I sense bonding going on!" Jasper said as he walked through the door. Rose and I laughed. "Great, now we're all one big happy family."

Apparently in Psychology we were learning about body language, which was interesting enough to capture my attention. Having forgotten life before, having to reestablish myself had really trashed my social skills. I was horrible at guessing the intentions and thoughts of others, I just couldn't pick up on the cues. Jasper noticed.

"You're really into this, aren't you?" He asked, sounding a bit surprised.

I laughed and shrugged. "I'm very bad at understanding others. Thousands of years of dormancy will do that to you."

Jasper smiled and nodded slowly. "Understandable. But you seem so good with communication, regardless."

I just shrugged. "I have a way with people I suppose. The wolves used to say that when I got mad, the Queen came out, because I had this way about me that made people do what I asked with their tail tucked between their legs," I smiled and Jasper and Rosalie laughed.

"I still can't wrap my mind around the prospect of you being the ruler of the entire _world_, though. Like... sitting here, right before me, used to be the Queen of everything."

"Operative word being used to, Jasper," I rolled my eyes.

Jasper shrugged. "Still. I was a soldier centuries ago, but I still introduce myself as Major Jasper Whitlock to other vampires. Just because time has passed or you no longer fill that occupation doesn't mean you shouldn't credit yourself for the things you _did_ do."

I mulled that over, but eventually just said, "I suppose."

I was back into the lesson then, and Jasper let me be. Eventually, Gym reared it's ugly head.

Walking in the halls, I couldn't keep a scowl from my face. Rosalie laughed and nudged me, saying, "Hey at least Alice will be there."

I sighed, knowing that the gymnasium would be abuzz with whispers the whole time. "Wonderful. Tell me, are _all_ humans this petty?"

Jasper laughed and said, "It's a small town. Small town people are extremely self-involved. They think they're big because their town is small. Go to somewhere like New York? No, they know exactly what they're worth. Not here, though. I really wouldn't bother myself with what they think."

"It's just so annoying! It's like honestly, do you have _nothing_ better to talk about?"

"Was setting them off the entire reason you agreed to this whole business?" Rosalie asked, leaning around her brother to display an eyebrow quirked.

I frowned. Was it? I didn't even know anymore. "Yes. But it's still annoying. I mostly agreed because Alice seemed so excited and I didn't mind overmuch."

Rosalie laughed and furrowed her brows, and odd combination. "You were willing to engage in a lesbian relationship, real or otherwise, just because Alice wanted to? Just like that? Bella, you're spoiling her."

I laughed and shrugged. "It's not really that big of a deal. What is sexuality to someone who has been dormant for thousands of years? I feel no need to conform to the petty social norms of this new, horrible world. I detest everything it is, and crippling standards are a part of that. I just don't care. Plus I can never reproduce, so it doesn't mater anyways."

I didn't expect that little tidbit to go over the way it did.

"What?" Rosalie asked, stopping in her tracks. "_Why?_"

Jasper looked equally surprised.

I hugged my books tighter to my chest. "I just can't. I'm barren, I suppose. I have the body of a sorceress, but there are aspects of me that expect to work like a dragon's. They're not meant to mesh together, and as a result, certain parts don't agree. My DNA can't combine to produce offspring. I've come to terms with it."

"Bella..." Rosalie said softly, like she was searching for words, but instead we had arrived at the gymnasium.

I forced a smile onto my face and said, "See ya later, wish me luck."

I turned my back and walked a few paces. "Good luck," came Jasper's somewhat dazed reply.

Alice was waiting for me outside the lockers with a smiled on her face. "About time!"

"Sorry, I was talking with Rose and Jasper."

Alice applauded. "Good to see you making nice, I'm very proud."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up. I need to go apologize to the teacher for skipping class the last few days."

Alice waved me off then slipped into the locker room to change, I assumed. The teacher, who demanded I refer to him as 'Coach Clap' when I addressed him with a simple 'sir.'

"And where the hell have you been?" he asked gruffly.

I liked this guy. "Sorry Coach. String of bad luck, settling into the new school. But I'm here now."

"I'll decide that. You can prove it by being captain today."

I just nodded.

"We're playing dodgeball. Go get changed."

"Yes, Coach," I said and ducked away into the lockers.

Alice laughed as I walked in wit a thumbs up. "I didn't hear any screaming, sounds like you got off easy."

I just rolled my eyes, catching reflexively as Alice hurled a wad of clothes at my face. "Here, these are some of Rose's. I knew you'd forget."

It honestly hadn't even crossed my mind that I would _need_ gym clothes until I arrived here, and then I figured maybe they'd be provided. Apparently not. I smiled at Alice and said, "Aw, thanks. You're right, I did forget. I've never had to dress out before," I said with a shrug.

"No sweat," Alice giggled. As she passed me to go out the door, she rose up and pecked me on the cheek. "I'll see you out there."

As soon as the door closed I heard a muttered, "Ugh, fucking dykes," but it was obviously in human hearing range because several of the other girl's laughed. Looking up, why am I no surprised, Lauren, Jessica, and two girls I didn't recognize were still lounging around.

"Excuse me?" I asked, tone heated.

They seemed genuinely surprised that I could hear them, as if they expected their words to stay within their bubble. Lauren recovered quickly and replied, "You heard me. This is a _girl's_ locker room, and I don't want to have to look at you nasty gays making out. It's bad enough that you're probably sneaking peaks while I'm changing."

"Oh, gross," some of the other girl's fretted.

I was shocked. Why would she even contemplate me looking at her, if I was supposedly in a relationship with Alice. "Are you serious?" I asked, expecting a joke.

"Um, yeah? I am. You're fucking gross." Lauren sneered at me.

"_O_kay," I said slowly, rolling my neck, cracking it in certain places. The looser I was, the easier it was to keep the other me caged. "I can see this could be a problem in the future, so I'm gonna lay it all out right now." I took a few steps closer, smiling as they shrunk closer together. If I had to guess, I'd wager they weren't used to confrontation.

"First things first. Does a kiss on the cheek _really_ qualify as making out to you? Because if so, I'm sure there's a tiny kindergarten seat with your name on it, _somewhere_. Second, why would _anyone_, male or female, ever sneak a peek at you nasty-ass bitches? My god, you look like carrots! It's not hard to figure out how you got so 'tan,'" I air-quoted the word, "In fucking _Washington_. It's not exactly the sunny southwest. Finally, what on earth do you carrots have to worry about? You could really compare yourselves to _Alice Cullen_ and worry about _anything_? Mother of fuck, you're dumber than I thought! Have you seen her lately? Her beauty doesn't come from a spray tan and a make up bottle, which is unfathomably more appealing than anything you lot could buy at Walmart. So you can get your snotty ass bigotry out of here _right now_ before I beat this lesson in. I don't take bullshit from anyone, let alone petty high school bitches."

I doubt I really scared them, if anything they were surprised. So surprised that they did exactly what I'd hoped for; they scurried out the door right past me, hissing things at each other that I didn't really care to listen to. One thing I did catch was Lauren's growled out, "You're dead, Swan!"

Yeah, I'd like to see that.

Having changed, I walked out to find Alice there waiting for me, leaning on the wall outside the door. There was a deep frown on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"That was pleasant," she mumbled.

"Ah. You heard all that. I mean of course you did, duh! Go me. Sorry, did you not want me to fight them?" I was worried I had broken some special human courtship rule that would blow our cover but Alice laughed.

"No, no! I'm just upset that they had the balls to say it. What _you_ said was very sweet though. You played your role perfectly."

It was my turn to laugh. "It wasn't a role! They really needed the lesson. I still have no idea how they were afraid I would look at them changing if I had you. It's baffling." My brow furrowed in thought, still trying to unravel it. Jasper was right, these small town folk _were _incredibly self-involved. Even the people on the rez were like that to a certain degree, the elders in particular.

"Aw, how sweet," Alice smiled, wrapping an arm around my waist.

I looked down at her and laughed. "I know right? I'm a regular old Romeo. But Coach Clapp asked me to be a captain, so I gotta go."

"Alright," she sighed and let me loose.

I went to stand by the coach who was looking over his clip board, ignoring the class who had the majority of their attention on Alice and I. I was impressed! I mean, you rarely saw humans keep attention any one thing for so long. I guess that's just kudos to Alice and I.

"Alright, Swan. Stand on my right. And-"

"Coach, can I be a Captain?" Fucking Lauren raised her hand and asked.

The coach shrugged and gestured to his left. "Swan, pick first."

"Alice," I said.

The class snickered and I just shrugged.

"Tyler," Lauren said, and a big football player moved to her side.

"Uhm... Eric." I said, noticing the helpful boy from my first day. I began scanning the crowd for faces I knew, which wasn't many.

"Mike," Lauren called.

I noticed the three bimbos from earlier looking more and more put out as Lauren opted for the best players over her friends. I, on the other hand, had an alternative strategy. "Angela," I smiled and called her over.

"Joseph," Lauren named.

Angela whispered in my ear, "Pick Ben, Jenny, Ethan, and Natalie."

I smiled at her and, back and forth with Lauren, followed her suggestions.

Our team looked weak from a side by side comparison, but Angela explained it a different way. "Jenny and Natalie play Lacrosse at the community center in Port Angelas," she said. "And Ben has a younger brother who he helps practice for baseball with all the time, he can throw. Ethan is on the reserve team on football because he's on probation for drinking, but he's a great player." And so on, and so forth.

And so it began. Alice and I, though maintaining human speed, were still the first ones to the line to grab the balls. We ran back again, choosing our targets carefully. "Leave Lauren for last," I muttered and she nodded.

The game didn't last long at all. Alice and I picked off the bigger players, like Mike and Tyler, while the other players focused on Lauren's leftovers. They _were_ really good, I had to hand it to Angela. She knew a lot more about people than she let on to. Soon enough the boys on Lauren's team were cursing in frustration, not able to hit anyone.

"Come _on,_" Lauren yelled. "Ugh, you're all _worthless_!"

"That's not very nice," Jessica muttered, as she cowered from another throw.

Finally it was just Lauren, Jessica, and Joseph left on the court. Alice and I, in the same motions, picked up a red rubber ball, wound up, and threw. They hit both Jessica and Joseph straight in the gut, pushing them back a few paces.

"Stanley, Harris! Out!" Coach Clapp called out.

Finally it was Lauren against Alice and I. She looked worried, but outwardly she wasn't showing anything but anger. Her team was silent with defeat but mine was roaring support.

"C'mon Bella! Go Alice!" Alice and I smiled.

A thought entered my head, and I turned to her, hoping she would see it as a vision. Her gaze went blank for just a moment, then she smiled. She picked up a ball and wound up like she was going to throw it, but stumbled. Her throw was botched, the ball flying high in the air. Lauren grinned and looked up, readying her hands to catch it. I grinned as her team groaned, realizing what was happening. With all the strength I wuold allow myself, I wound up and let loose, drilling my ball into her gut.

"Oof!" Lauren was flung off her feat, stumbling back onto the ground.

My team cheered and Coach Clapp blew his whistle. "What a game, eh? Took us to the bell, too. Go change." We all made out way to the lockers, but the coach stopped me. "Hey."

"Yes, Coach?"

"Nice game, Swan."

"Thanks Coach," I said with a smile.

Alice and I loitered outside the locker rooms, helping to pick up the dodge balls and maybe to avoid any situation with Lauren, but it was unspoken.

We changed quickly and walked outside to find her family waiting for us. Edward looked concerned, as did Jasper, who was looking between Edward and Alice and I. "Something happened," Jasper said, breaking the ice.

"I nearly torched some meatbags, but no biggy. We got it all sorted out."

Alice must have been replaying the scene in her head because Edward laughed. "Wow Bella, who would've guessed you were such a pro at dodgeball."

"She had it coming," I muttered.

"Anyone wanna fill the rest of us in. If Bella is out there beating bitches, I wanna know about it!"

Alice filled them in as we walked to the cars.

We were the last to pull from the lot, Alice and I, and to my surprise she let an unusual amount of space grow between her and her siblings. I raised a questioning brow at her and she sighed, shrugging. "I don't know. I thought you might want to talk."

"About what? That thing in Gym? Nah, don't sweat it. I'm sure I would have gotten up in their faces about something sooner or later."

Alice just shook her head. "It never occurred to me that you would be teased. It seemed like such a fun idea that I didn't think it through."

I laughed. "Well I suppose that's true, I'm not sure what possessed you to go along with this in the first place, but now that we're here?" I shrugged. "It's whatever."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked, confused.

I chewed my lip, thinking. "Well... I guess the only reason the humans would object in the first place is because of sexuality and gender roles, concepts which are pretty foreign to me to begin with. I think it's silly, so anything they might throw at us would be silly as well. It reminds me of a young child trying to prove they know more than an adult. And beyond that, I do think it's fun," I said with a laugh. "I'm enjoying myself."

Alice grinned, "Well I'm glad to know you've been enjoying my company so far."

"I have! In fact, I was wondering if you would like to come with me to hunt for more eggs later on. It is Friday after all, we'd have the whole weekend. We could even make a date out of it," I said with a laugh.

Alice beamed, excitement shining from her features. "Really?"

"Sure! We can go flying, go on a treasure hunt, have a nice meal on a mountain top somewhere and watch the sunset. Real romantic stuff."

Alice chuckled and said, "You know what? You are such a Romeo. That's your new nickname."

"Alright Juliet. We'll just hope our story turns out better. So is that a yes for our date?"

"Absolutely," she grinned. "Do you have anywhere in mind?"

I just smiled.

**A/N: Hmm... do you smell that? I think it's... is that fluff? I smell fluff in the air! Just around the bend. REVIEW with suggestions maybe? Because I'm still not very good at these things (:**

**I love you all!**


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